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^tate of North Carolina 

Fishing Laws 

19 15 



FOR THE FISHERIES COMMISSION BOARD 



By JOSEPH B. CHESHIRE, Jr. 

OF THE RALEIGH BAR 



1915 

Edwards & Brouohton Printing Company 
State Printers 



6 



NOTE 

The laws contained in this volume are given as they are printed in the 
Acts of our General Assembly. An effort has been made to omit all laws and 
parts of laws not at present in force, and to arrange those here given in an 
appropriate order and logical sequence. The compiler is conscious that he 
has not been entirely successful in his effort to accomplish this. So many 
acts have been passed without any regard to what had gone before, so many 
local interests have been considered in our public legislation, and so little 
care has been observed in drawing new acts, that it is not always possible to 
know what the law is; and many conflicting provisions and inaccuracies may 
be observed in the following pages. While quite aware of these, the com- 
piler has been, of course, helpless to correct or to reconcile them. He can 
only give the laws as they stand, trusting that the exhibition of these defects 
may help towards their ultimate removal by a genaral and systematic codifi- 
cation of our laws affecting this important interest of our State. 

June 22, 1915. - J. B. C, Jr. 



D. Of D. 

JAN 22 191/ 



\ 



CONTENTS 

Page 
I. FISHERIES COMMISSION BOARD 5 

II. LICENSES, TAXES, AND FEES 9 

III. FOOD FISH 14 

1. Protected 14 

2. Inspection of 15 

IV. SHELL FISH 16 

1. Oyster Beds and Bottoms 16 

a. Defined 16 

b. Grants 16 

c. Leases 18 

2. Catching Oysters 21 

a. In General 21 

b. Local Laws i 25 

3. Catching Clams 28 

V. TERRAPIN 30 

VI. FISHING 31 

1. In General 31 

a. Fisheries : 31 

b. Non-residents 32 

c. Explosives, Poisons, Obstructions, Sunday Fishing 33 

d. Nets and Stakes 34 

* e. Measure for Scrap 36 

2. General Local Laws 36 

3. Local Laws (Commercial Pishing) 51 

a. Counties 51 

b. Localities 64 

4. Local Laws (Non-commercial Fishing) 66 

a. Counties 66 

b. Localities 69 



N 



1. FISHERIES COMMISSION BOARD 

Section 1. Coiiiiiiission Established; IVuraber; Appointment; Term; Pay. 

That for the pjw-pose of enforcing the laws relating to all commercial fish 
there is hereby created a fisheries commission, which shall consist of five 
members appointed by the Governor, at least three of whom shall be from 
the several fishing districts of the State, who shall be denominated the "Fish- 
eries Commission Board." The members shall be appointed as follows, viz.: 
two, whose term of office shall expire on the first day of June, one thousand 
nine hundred and seventeen, and three, one of which shall be a member of 
the minority party, whose terms of office shall expire on the first day of June, 
one thousand nine hundred and nineteen; and their successors shall be ap- 
pointed by the Governor for a term of four years each thereafter. The five 
members shall receive four dollars per day each and traveling expenses while 
attending meetings of the board : Provided, that per diem and expenses shall 
not exceed two hundred and fifty dollars per annum. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 1. 

Sec. 2. Fish Commissioner; Appointment; Term; Reports; Yacancj ; As- 
sistants; Pay; Bonds; Oaths; Remoral of Assistants. That said board shall 
appoint a fish commissioner within thirty days after the passage of this act, 
and the said commissioner shall be responsible to the Fisheries Commission 
Board for carrying out the duties of his office, and shall make semi-annual 
reports to them at such time as they may require. The term of office of said 
commissioner and his successors in office shall be four years, or until their 
successors are appointed and qualified, and in case of vacancy in the office 
the appointment shall be to fill the vacancy. The said commissioner shall 
appoint two assistant commissioners, by and with the consent of the Fisheries 
Commission Board, one of whom shall be designated as assistant fish com- 
missioner and the other as shellfish commissioner. The aforesaid commis- 
sioner and assistant commissioners shall receive such pay as the Fisheries 
Commission Board shall determine. During the absence of the commissioner, 
or his inability to act, the Fisheries Commission Board shall appoint one of 
the assistant commissioners to have and exercise all the powers of the com- 
missioner. The commissioner and assistant commissioners shall each exe- 
cute and file with the Secretary of State a bond, payable to the State of 
North Carolina, in the sum of five thousand dollars for the commissioner and 
twenty-five hundred dollars for each of the assistant commissioners, with 
sureties to be approved by the Secretary of State, conditioned for the faithful 
performance of their duties and to account for and pay over pursuant to law 
all moneys received by them in their office. The fisheries commissioner and 
assistant commissioners shall take and subscribe an oath to support the 
Constitution and for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, which 
oaths shall be filed with their bonds. The assistant commissioners may be 
removed for cause by the commissioner, who may appoint their successors. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 1. 

Sec. 3. Inspectors; Direction of; Pay. The fisheries commissioner may 
appoint, with the approval of the Fisheries Commission Board, inspectors in 
each county having fisheries under his jurisdiction, who will assist him at 



6 NORTH CAROLINA 

such times as he may require. The said inspector shall serve under the 
direction of the commissioner, receiving compensation not to exceed three 
dollars per day and necessary expense, while in actual service. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 2. 

Sec. 4. Office and Clerical Force of Commissioner. The fisheries commis- 
sioner shall rent and equip an oflico, which will be adequate for the business 
of the commission, in some town conveniently located to the maritime fish- 
eries, and he is authorized to employ such clerks and other employees as may 
be necessary for the proper carrying on of the work of his office, by and with 
the consent of the Fisheries Commission Board. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 3. 

Sec. 5. Boats; Nets; Equipment. The fisheries commissioner is author- 
ized, by and with the consent of the Fisheries Commission Board, to pur- 
chase or rent such boats, nets, and other equipment as may be necessary to 
enable him and his assistants to fulfill the duties specified in this act. 

* 1915, ch. 84, sec. 4. 

Sec. 6. Commissioner's Duties; Repnlations, Passage of Fish; Statistics; 
Maps and Charts; Surveys; Trosecutlons; Licenses, Fees and Rentals; State- 
ments; Investigations of Marine Life. The commissioner shall enforce all acts 
relating to the fish and fisheries of North Carolina; he shall, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Fisheries Commission Board, make such regulations 
as shall maintain open for the passage of fishes all inlets and not less than one- 
third of the width of all sounds and streams, or such greater proportions of their 
width as may be necessary; he shall collect and compile statistics showing 
the annual product of the fisheries of the State, the capital invested, and the 
apparatus employed, and any fisherman refusing to give these statistics shall 
be refused a license for the next year; and the fish commissioner shall pre- 
pare and have on file in his office maps based on the charts of the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey, of the largest scale published, showing 
as closely as may be the location of all fixed apparatus employed during each 
fishing season; he shall have surveyed and marked in a prominent manner 
those areas of waters of the State in which the use of any or all fishing ap- 
pliances are prohibited by law or regulation, and those areas of waters in 
the State in which oyster tonging or dredging is prohibited by law; he shall 
prosecute all violations of the fish laws, and wherever necessary he may 
employ counsel for this purpose; wherever he shall find nets or other appli- 
ances being fished or used in violation of the fisheries laws of the State he 
shall remove same pending trial ; he shall, in an official capacity, have power 
to administer oaths and to send for and examine persons and papers; he 
shall be responsible for the collection of all license taxes, fees, rentals, or 
other imposts on the fisheries, and shall pay same into the State treasury to 
the credit of the fisheries commission fund; he shall on or before the twenty- 
fifth day of each month, mail to the Treasurer of the State a consolidated 
statement showing the amount of taxes and license fees collected during the 
preceding month, and by and from whom collected; he shall carry on investi- 
gations relating to the migration and habits of the fish in the waters of the 
State, also investigations relating to the cultivation of the oyster, clam and 
other mollusca, and of the terrapin and crab, and for this purpose he may 
employ such scientific assistance as may be authorized by the Fisheries Com- 
mission Board. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 5. 



FISHING LAWS 7 

Sec. 7. Arrest Without Warrant. The fisheries commissioner, assistant 
commissioners and inspectors shall have power, with or without warrants, 
to arrest any person or persons violating any of the fishery laws, who shall 
be carried before a magistrate for trial according to section three thousand 
one hundred and eighty-two of The Revisal of one thousand nine hundred 
and five. 

1915, ch. 84, 'sec* 6. 

Sec. 8. Fish for Scientific Purposes. The fisheries commissioner and the 
United States Bureau of Fisheries may take and cause to be taken for scien- 
tific purposes or for fish culture any fish or other marine organism at any 
time from the waters of North Carolina, any law to the contrary notwith- 
standing; and may cause or permit to be sold such fishes or parts of fishes 
so taken as may not be necessary for purposes of scientific investigations or 
fish culture: Provided, that in taking fish for fish culture in the hatcheries 
of this State the fish shall only be taken while the hatcheries are in opera- 
tion and only between the hours of four and eleven p. m. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 7. 

Sec. 9. Officers, no Interest in Fisheries. The members of the Fisheries 
Commission Board, the fisheries commissioner, assistant commissioners, and 
inspectors shall not be financially interested in any fishing industry in North 
Carolina. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 8. 

Sec. 10. Reports of Board to General Assembly; Published. The Fish- 
eries Commission Board shall cause to be prepared and submitted to each 
Legislature a report showing the operations, collections and expenditures of 
the fisheries commission ; and it shall also cause to be prepared for publica- 
tion such other reports, with necessary illustrations and maps, as will ade- 
quately set forth the results of the work and the investigations of the fish- 
eries commission, all such reports, illustrations, and maps to be printed and 
distributed at the expense of the State, as are other public documents, as 
the Fisheries Commission Board may direct. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 15. 

Sec. 11. Appropriations; Repayment; Transfer of Funds; Outstanding 
Claims. There is hereby appropriated out of the general treasury as a sup- 
plementary fund the sum of ten thousand dollars annually for two years, or 
as much thereof as may be needed, to the fisheries commission to carry out 
the work of the commission in the protection and promotion of the fisheries 
of the State, this sum to be repaid to the general treasury by the fisheries 
commission when it shall be on a self-sustaining basis, said sum to be used 
and expended as directed by the Fisheries Commission Board, and any part 
of it that may be required may be used for purchasing boats and other 
equipment necessary to carry out the work of the commission; and any 
money that may be in the State treasury to the credit of the fish commission 
and oyster commission fund on the day that this act becomes effective shall 
be transferred by the State Treasurer to the credit of the fisheries commis- 
sion fund, and the Fisheries Commission Board is hereby authorized to pay 
out of the fisheries commission fund all just claims that may be outstanding 
against the fish or oyster commissions. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 16. 



8 NORTH CAROLINA 

Sec. 12. Transfer of E<|iiipmen(. All boats, fishing and oyster tackle, 
office supplies, stationery, and all other sujiplies of whatever character be- 
longing to the fish commission and oyster commission shall be transferred to 
the fisheries commissioner for the use of the fisheries commission. 

1915. ch. 84, sec. 17. 

Sec. 13. Jurisdiction of flie .Shite. The State of North Carolina shall have 
exclusive jurisdiction and control over all the commercial fisheries of the 
State wherever located. 

1915, ch. 84, FCC. 18. 

Sec. 14. I'ower of Hoard; I^e^ulutlons; Piinislinient; Hearing on Kegula- 
tions; ('lian<j;'eM in Effect, Wlien. The Fisheries Commission Board is hereby 
authorized to regulate, prohibit or restrict, in time, place, character and 
dimensions, the use of nets, appliances, apparatus or means employed in 
taking or killing fish; to regulate the seasons at which the various species of 
fish may be taken in the several waters of the State, and to prescribe the 
minimum sizes of fish which may be taken in the said several waters of the 
State; and, such regulations, prohibitions, restrictions and prescriptions, 
after due publication, shall be of equal force and effect with the provisions 
of this act; and any person violating the provisions of this section shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned at 
the discretion of the court: Provided, however, that if a petition signed by 
five or more voters of the district or community which will be affected by 
the proposed changed is filed with the Fisheries Commission Board through 
the fisheries commissioner, assistant commissioners, or inspectors, asking 
that they have a hearing before any proposed change in the territory, size of 
mesh, length of net, or time of fishing shall go into effect, petitioning that 
they be heard regarding said change, the Fisheries Commission Board shall 
in that event designate by advertisement for a period of thirty days at the 
courthouse and three other public places in the county affected, and also by 
publication in a newspaper of the county, if such is published in said county, 
for two consecutive weeks, a place at which said board will meet and hear 
argument for and against said change, and may ratify, rescind, or alter this 
previous order of change as may seem just in the premises; and, provided, 
further, that in making regulations the Fisheries Commission Board shall 
give due weight and consideration to all factors which will affect the value 
of the present investment in the fisheries, and that no changes in the exist- 
ing laws which, if they should go into effect immediately would tend to cause 
fishermen to lose their property, shall go into effect until twelve months from 
the date that the change has been made by the Fisheries Commission Board. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 21. 

Sec. 15. Disturbing Posts, Buoys, Marks; Punishment. Any person or 
persons removing, injuring, defacing, or in any way disturbing the posts, 
buoys, or any other appliances used by the fisheries commission in marking 
the restricted areas relating to any and all fishing, or marking other areas 
in which oyster tonging or dredging is prohibited by law, and those marking 
oyster bottoms that are leased for oyster cultivation, shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined or imprisoned at the discre- 
tion of the court; and any person anchoring or mooring a boat to any of 
these buoys or posts shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than twenty- 
five or more than one hundred dollars, and imprisoned thirty days in jail, at 
the discretion of the court. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 22. 



FISHING LAWS 9 

Sec. 16. Terms Construed, Act 1915. Wherever the word "fish" or "fishes," 
used as a substantive, occurs in this act, it shall be construed to include por- 
poises and other marine mammals, fishes, mollusca, and crustaceans, and 
wherever the word "fishing" or "fisheries" occurs it shall be construed to 
include all operations involved in using, setting or operating apparatus em- 
ployed in killing or taking the said animals or in transporting and preparing 
them for marlj«t. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 24. 

Sec. 17. Former Acts Amended by Act 1915. That all acts relating to the 
commercial fisheries of North Carolina are hereby amended so that the 
words "Shellfish Commissioner," "Oyster Commissioner," or "Fish Commis- 
missioner" shall read "Fisheries Commissioner," and the words "Shellfish" 
read "Fisheries Commission." 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 25. 

II. LICENSES, TAXES, AND FEES 

Sec. 18. Funds Deposited; Used by Board. All license fees, taxes, rentals 
of bottoms for oyster or clam cultivation, and other imposts upon the fish- 
eries, in whatever manner collected, shall, except as otherwise provided in 
this act, be deposited with the State Treasurer to the credit of the fisheries 
commission fund, to be drawn upon as directed by the Fisheries Commission 
Board. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 9. 

Sec. 19. Licenses to Fish and Catch Oysters; Verified Statement; Issued; 
Record; Tags; Number on Sail; Seizure and Sale of Vessel Violating; Term 
of License; Punishment. Each and every person, firm, or corporation, before 
commencing or engaging in any kind of fishing in the State, shall file with an 
inspector of the county in which he desires to fish, or with the fisheries com- 
missioner or any of his assistant commissioners, a sworn statement as to the 
number and kind of nets, seines, or other apparatus intended to be used in 
fishing. Upon filing this sworn statement on oath the fisheries commissioner 
shall issue or cause to be issued to the said party or parties a license as pre- 
scribed by law; said applicant shall pay a license fee equal in amount to the 
fee or tax prescribed by law for fishing different kinds of apparatus in the 
waters of the State of North Carolina, or for tonging or dredging for oysters, 
as the case may be. The fisheries commissioner shall keep in a book 
especially prepared for the purpose an exact record of all licenses, to whom 
issued, the number and kinds of nets, boats and other apparatus licensed and 
the license fees received. He shall furnish to each person, firm or corpora- 
tion in whose favor a license is issued a special tag which will show the 
license number and number of pound nets, or yards of seine, or yards of gill 
net that the licensee is authorized to use, and the licensee shall attach said 
tag to the net in a conspicuous manner satisfactory to the fisheries commis- 
sioner. All boats or vessels licensed to scoop, scrape, or dredge oysters 
shall display on the port side of the jib, above the reef and bonnet and on 
the opposite side of the mainsail, above all reef points, in black letters, not 
less than twenty inches long, the initial letter of the county granting the 
license and the number of said license, the number to be painted on canvas 
and furnished by the fisheries commissioner, for which he shall receive the 
sum of fifty cents. Any boat or vessel used in catching oysters without hav- 
ing complied with the provisions of this section may be seized, forfeited, ad- 



10 NORTH CAROLINA 

vertised for twenty days at the courthouse and two other public places in the 
county where seized, and sold at some public place designated in the adver- 
tisement, and the proceeds, less the costs of the proceedings, shall be paid 
into the school fund. The licenses to fish with nets shall all terminate Decem- 
ber thirty-first. Any person who shall willfully use for commercial fishing 
purposes any kind of net whatever, without having first complied with the 
provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon convic- 
tion, shall be fined twenty-five dollars for each and every offense, 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 10. 

Sec. 20. False Statement in Application for Oysterman's License. If any 

person shall make any false statement for the purpose of procuring any 
license, which may be required by law, to catch oysters, or to engage in the 
oyster industry, he shall be guilty of perjury and punished as provided by 
law. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2390. 

Sec. 21. License for Boats Catching Oysters; Power Boats and INon-resi- 
dents Prohibited. The fisheries commissioner, or shellfish commissioner, or 
inspector, may grant license for a boat to be used in catching oysters upon 
application made, according to law, and the payment of a license tax as 
follows: On any boat or vessel without cabin or deck, and under custom 
house tonnage, using scrapes or dredges, measuring over all twenty-five feet 
and under thirty, a tax of three dollars; fifteen feet and under twenty-five 
feet, a tax of two dollars; on any boat or vessel with cabin or deck, and 
under custom house tonnage, using scrape or dredges, measuring over all 
thirty feet or under, a tax of five dollars; over thirty feet, a tax of six dol- 
lars; on any boat or vessel using scoops, scrapes or dredges, required to be 
registered or enrolled in the custom house, a tax of one dollar and fifty cents 
a ton on gross tonnage. No vessel propelled by steam, gas or electricity, 
and no boat or vessel not the property absolutely of a citizen or citizens of 
this State, shall receive license or be permitted in any manner to engage in 
the catching of oysters anywhere in the waters of this State. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 11. 

Sec. 22. Licensee to Catch Oysters Must be Resident for Two Years. No 

person shall be licensed to catch oysters from the public grounds of the State 
who is owner, lessee, master, captain, mate or foreman, or who owns an 
interest in or who is an agent for any boat that is used or that may be used 
in dredging oysters from the public grounds of the State, who is not a bona 
fide resident of this State and w^ho has not continuously resided therein for 
two years next preceding the date of his application for license, and no non- 
resident shall be employed as a laborer on any boat licensed to dredge oys- 
ters under this sub-chapter who has any interest in or who receives any 
profit from the oysters caught by any boat permitted to dredge oysters on the 
public grounds of the State. Any person, firm or corporation employing any 
non-resident laborer forbidden by this section, upon conviction shall be fined 
not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2408. 

Sec. 23. Oath and License to Catch Oysters. Any person desiring to catch 
oysters from the public grounds and natural oyster beds shall make and sub- 
scribe to the following oath before some officer qualified to administer oaths: 



FISHING LAWS 11 

I, (state if owner, lessee, master, captain, mate, foreman, or 

agent of any boat used or that may be used in dredging oysters from the 
public grounds of the State), being an applicant for oyster license, do sol- 
emnly swear that I am a citizen of North Carolina and have been a resident 
of the State for the two years next preceding this day; that my place of 

residence is now in county; that I will not, if granted license, 

employ any non-resident or unlicensed person as an assistant or serve as an 
assistant to any non-resident who is owner, lessee, master, captain, mate or 
foreman, or who has any interest in, or in the profits derived from, any boat 
that is used or may be used in dredging oysters from the public grounds of 
the State, or unlicensed person, nor will I transfer, assign or otherwise dis- 
pose of my license to any person, firm or corporation; that I will not know- 
ingly or willfully violate or evade any of the laws or regulations of the State 
relating to oyster industry; so help me, God. 

He shall then present to and file said oath with the fisheries commissioner, 
assistant commissioner, or inspector, who, if satisfied with the truth of the 
statement made in the oath of application, shall issue to him an oysterman's 
license in the following form: 

State of North Carolina, County. 

, a resident of county, having this day made ap- 
plication to me for an oysterman's license, and having filed with me the oath 
prescribed by law, I do hereby grant to him license to catch oysters from the 

public grounds of this State from the fifteenth day of October, , until 

the first day of next April. 

Witness my hand and official seal, this day of , 191 



Fisheries Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, or 

Inspector (as the case may be). 

The said oath and record of the license shall be kept by the fisheries com- 
missioner, assistant commissioner, or inspector, and for issuing and record- 
ing the same he shall receive from the applicant a fee of twenty-five cents, 
which, together with all other license fees collected under this chapter, shall 
be paid over to the State Treasurer and constitute part of the fisheries com- 
mission fund. No fee shall be charged by the clerk for administering the 
oath. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2409. 

Sec. 24. Failure to Stop and Show License. If any person using a boat or 
vessel for the purpose of catching oysters shall refuse to stop and exhibit his 
license when commanded to do so by the fisheries commissioner, assistant 
commisioner, or any inspector, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be 
fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2389. 

Sec. 25. Catching Oysters Without License. If any person shall catch 
oysters from the public grounds of the State without having first obtained a 
license according to law, or shall employ any person as agent or assistant, 
or shall as the agent or assistant of any persons, catch oysters from public 
grounds, without all of said persons having first obtained a license according 
to law, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not exceeding fifty 
dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2386. 

Sec. 26. Boat Not Licensed. If any person shall use any boat or vessel in 
catching oysters, which boat has not been licensed according to law, and 



12 NORTH CAROLINA 

which is not in all respects complying with the law regulating the use of such 
vessels, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than 
fifty dollars nor less than ten dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days 
nor less than ten days for the first offense, but for the second or subsequent 
offense he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished at the discretion 
of the court. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2387. 

Sec. 27. License, Purse or Shirred Nets; Term; Punisliment. Whenever 
any person or persons, corporation or corporations, niay intend to taken 
menhaden (fat-backs), porgies, herring or other fish in any waters within 
the jurisdiction of this State, including the waters of the Atlantic Ocean 
within three nautical miles of the coasts of said State, either on his own 
account and benefit or on account and benefit of his employer, with purse or 
shirred nets, such person or persons, corporation or corporations shall make 
an application to the fisheries commissioner for license, and, upon the re- 
ceipt of such application, the fisheries commissioner shall, upon the receipt 
of a sum equal to two dollars for each ton of the net tonnage up to seventy- 
five tons, and one dollar per ton in excess thereof, of each vessel employed in 
such fishing, said net tonnage to be determined by custom house measure- 
ment, as a license fee, issue to such person or persons, corporation or cor- 
porations, a license duly signed by the fisheries commissioner, which said 
license shall be valid and in force for the term of one year; all such licenses 
to be dated from January first, and no license shall be for a space of time less 
than one year. For every violation of this act the offending person or per- 
sons, corporation or corporations shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be 
fined two hundred dollars for each and every offense. 

191.5, ch. 84, sec. 12. 

Sec. 28. Tax on Dealers and Purchasers of Oysters; Inspectors Collect; 
License Revoked; Suit for Tax. All dealers in oysters and all persons who 
purchase oysters for canning, packing, shucking or shipping, shall pay a tax 
of two cents on every bushel of oysters purchased by ihem, or caught by 
them, or by any one of them: Provided, that no oyster shall be twice taxed: 
And provided further, that no tax shall be imposed on oysters taken from 
private oyster gardens. This tax shall be paid to and collected by the in- 
spectors, and, when paid, a receipt shall be given therefor. Upon failure or 
refusal by any person, firm or corporation to pay said tax, his license as a 
dealer shall at once become null and void, and no further license shall 
be granted him during the current year; and it shall be the duty of the 
commissioner, assistant commissioner, or inspector, to institute suit for 
the collection of said tax. Such suit shall be in the name of the State of 
North Carolina on relation of the commissioner or of the inspector at whose 
instance such suit is instituted, and the recovery shall be for the benefit and 
to the use of the general fisheries commission fund. 

1915, ch. 84, fee. 13. 

Sec. 29. Appliances Taxed; Schedule of Licenses. The following license 
tax is hereby levied annually upon the different fishing appliances used in 
the waters of North Carolina: 

Anchor gill nets, twenty cents per one hundred yards or fraction thereof. 

Stake gill nets, ten cents per one hundred yards or fraction thereof. 



FISHING LAWS 13 

Drift gill nets, twenty cents per one hundred yards or fraction thereof. 

Pound nets, one dollar each. 

Seine, drag nets and mullet nets under one hundred yards, one dollar each. 

Seine, drag nets, and mullet nets over one hundred yards and under three 
hundred yards, one dollar per one hundred yards or fraction thereof. 

Seine, drag nets, and mullet nets over three hundred yards and under one 
thousand yards, one dollar and twenty-five cents per one hundred yards or 
fraction thereof. 

Seine, drag nets, and mullet nets over one thousand yards, one dollar and 
seventy-five cents per one hundred yards or fraction thereof. 

Fyke nets, twenty-five cents each. 

Tonging for oysters, the license tax shall be one dollar for each tonger. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 14. 

Sec. 30. Oyster Dealer's License. (But see sec. 28.) The fisheries com- 
missioner, assistant commissioner or inspector shall, upon application and 
the payment of a fee of fifty cents, grant to the applicant a dealer's license, 
authorizing the applicant to engage in the business of buying, purchasing, 
canning, packing, shucking or shipping oysters. Such license shall not be 
issued prior to the fifteenth day of November of any year and shall expire on 
the fifteenth day of March following. The assistant commissioner or Inspec- 
tor granting the license shall at once mail a duplicate to the fisheries com- 
missioner. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to require any 
license of persons engaged in the business of buying, purchasing, canning, 
packing, shucking or shipping oysters which were not taken or caught from 
the public grounds or natural oyster beds of the State. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2411; 1907, ch. 969, sec. 7; 1915, ch. 136, sec. 3. 

Jfew Hanorer, Onslow, and Pender. — ^License to Oyster Dealers. The fish- 
eries commissioner, assistant commissioner or inspector shall, upon applica- 
tion and the payment of a fee of fifty cents, grant to the applicant a dealer's 
license, authorizing the applicant to engage in the business of buying, pur- 
chasing, canning, packing, shucking or shipping oysters. Such license shall 
not be issued prior to the fifteenth day of October of any year and shall 
expire on the first day of April following. The assistant commissioner or 
inspector granting the license shall at once mail a duplicate to the com- 
missioner. 

Rev. 1905, fee. 2411. 

Sec. 31. Oyster Dealing Without a License. If any person shall engage in 
the business of buying, canning, packing, shipping, or shucking oysters, taken 
or caught from the public grounds or natural oyster beds of the State, without 
having first obtained a license as required by law, he shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor and be fined not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned not exceeding 
thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2395; 1915, ch. 136, see. 1. 

Sec. 32. Oysters Shipped Out of the State, Tax. That all oysters going out 
of the State in any boat or vessel shall pay a tax of two cents per tub. 

1907, ch. 969, sec. 11; Spec. Ses. 1913, ch. 42, sec. 3. 

Sec. 33. Licenses Reported Monthly. The fisheries commissioner, assist- 
ant commissioner, or inspector who are authorized to issue license or to 
collect a license tax, shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, mail 



14 NORTH CAROLINA 

to the fisheries commissioner a statement, showing all licenses issued during 
the preceding month, to whom issued, and for what purpose, and the amount 
of tax collected by them from all sources under the oyster laws, and shall at 
the same time remit said amount direct to the State Treasurer. They shall at 
the same time mail to each inspector asking for the same a list of all persons 
to whom license has been issued and of all boats or vessels licensed, and for 
what purpose. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2412. 

Sec. 34. Non-residents, License Tax for Coniniereial Fisliing. If any per- 
son, not being a citizen and resident of this State, shall catch fish by seines, 
nets, or other appliances for taking fish for marketable purposes in any 
waters within the jurisdiction of this State, without first obtaining therefor 
a license from the State Treasurer and for which he shall pay a privilege 
tax of twenty-five hundred dollars per annum, he shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and upon conviction in the superior court of any county contiguous 
to the waters so fished as aforesaid, shall be fined not exceeding three thou- 
sand dollars or imprisoned not exceeding two years, or be both fined and im- 
prisoned, as aforesaid, in the discretion of the court; and any citizen of this 
State, or other person who shall form an alliance or co-partnership with a 
non-resident for the purpose of evading this section, or who shall act as an 
agent .of any such non-resident, or as his servant, agent or employee, shall 
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction in the superior court 
of any county bordering upon the waters fished as aforesaid, shall be fined 
not less than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than six months, or 
be both in the discretion of the court; and the nets, seines, boats or other 
appliances of such person shall be liable by civil action to seizure and con- 
fiscation for the benefit of the public school fund. Any person who shall 
violate this section shall forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars for 
each day engaged in fishing as aforesJiid, to be sued for and recovered by any 
citizen of this State, the one-half of such recovery to be to the use of such 
citizen so suing and recovering the same, and the other half to the school 
fund. In any civil action for the recovery of the penalties hereinbefore pro- 
vided for and mentioned, no person, agent, servant or other employee shall 
be excused from testifying therein on the ground of incriminating himself by 
his answer, but such answer shall not be used as evidence against such wit- 
ness so testifying in any criminal action whatever. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2459. 

Brunswiek. (See sec. 167, Non-resident catching oysters, etc., license.) 

III. FOOD FISH 

1. Protected. 

2. Inspection of. 
1. Protected. 

Sec. 35. Edible Fish Used for no Other Purpose; Punishment. Any per- 
son, firm or corporation who shall catch or cause to be caught any edible 
fish in the waters of the State of North Carolina for any other purpose than 
as food, and any person, firm or corporation who shall use any edible fish for 
fertilizing purposes shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than 
fifty dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 23. 



FISHING LAWS 15 

2. Inspection of. 

Sec. 36. Inspectors Appointed by Counties; Duties; Fees. The board of 
county commissioners of every county wliere fish are paclied for sale or 
shipment shall appoint and qualify one or more sworn inspectors of fish at 
or near all packing localities, whose duty it shall be to inspect all salt fish 
packed for sale or shipment; and all barrels, half barrels and packages of 
fish inspected and approved by them shall be branded with the word "In- 
spected" and the name of the inspector. Said board shall regulate and pre- 
scribe the duties, powers and fees of said inspector, which fees shall not 
exceed five cents per barrel of two hundred pounds net and two and one-half 
cents per half-barrel of one hundred pounds net and smaller packages, to 
be paid by the shipper. This section shall not apply to fishermen who may 
sell their fish to packers and shippers by weight or otherwise, as they may 
agree: Provided, that in any county where the board of county commission- 
ers have not already appointed an inspector as is provided above, that upon a 
petition of two or more persons it shall be mandatory upon the said board of 
county commissioners to immediately appoint an inspector in accordance 
with the provisions above. Upon failure to do so for five days after said 
petition has been filed, said board shall be guilty of a misdemeanor: Pro- 
vided, said petition be filed with the clerk of the board of commissioners five 
days before regular meeting of said board, and upon conviction shall be 
fined not less than five nor more than fifty dollars for each member or be 
imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

1909, ch. 663, sec. 1; 1911, ch. 171, sec. 1. 

Sec. 37. Sales by Weight; Weight Marked on Pacliage. All salt fish 
packed for market shall be sold at their net weight, which shall be marked 
on every package; and any person packing or offering for sale salt fish, 
fraudulently marking the net weight on the package, shall for each offense 
be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than fifty dollars or impris- 
oned not more than thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court. 

1909, ch. 663, sec. 2. 

Sec. 38. Mullet Marked, How; Provisos. Each package of salt mullets 
packed and offered for sale shall be marked or stamped "Large," "Medium," 
or "Small," and all packages containing any other kind of fish shall be 
marked plainly the name of the fish contained, and any person who shall 
pack as principal or shall have the same done by others for him shall be 
deemed the packer and shall stamp his name and place of packing, together 
with net weight and size of fish, as prescribed in this section, on the head of 
each package before offering for sale or shipment, and on failure to pack 
and stamp as herein prescribed, or to pack or stamp said package falsely, so 
as to misrepresent the weight or size of the fish in said package, shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than five nor more than fifty dol- 
lars for each offense, and may be imprisoned at the discretion of the court, 
not to exceed thirty days: Provided, this section shall not apply to packages 
containing less than fifty pounds net fish: Provided further, this section 
shall not apply to fishermen themselves, but shall apply only to merchants 
and others who may be classed as packers or brokers, within the proper 
meaning of the term, 

1909, ch. 663, sec. 3. 



16 NORTH CAROLINA 

Sec. 39. Inspectors of FIsIi; Duties and Fees. (Rev. 1905, sec. 4656, and 
Acts 1907, ch. 690, as to Reaufort County, seem repealed by 1909, ch. 663.) 

Sec. 40. Vessel Loadintr AVithont Inspection, Penalty. No master or com- 
mander of any vessel shall take on board any such cask or barrel or other 
commodity, liable to inspection as aforesaid, without being inspected and 
branded as required under the penalty of two hundred dollars for each 
offense. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 4657. 

IV. SHELL FISH 

1. Oyster Beds and Bottoms. 

a. Defined. 

b. Grants. 

c. Leases. 

2. Catching Oysters. 

a. In General. 

b. Local Laws. 

3. Catching Clams. 

1. Oyster Beds and Bottoms. 

a. Defined. 

Sec. 41. ]Vatural Defined. A natural oyster or clam bed, as distinguished 
from an artificial oyster or clam bed, shall be one not planted by man, and 
is any shoal, reef or bottom where oysters are to be found growing in suf- 
ficient quantities to be valuable to the public. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2371. 

b. Grants. 

Sec. 42. Certain Territory Under Control of State. The State shall exer- 
cise exclusive jurisdiction and control over all shell fisheries which are or 
may be located in the boundaries of the State south of Roanoke and Croatan 
sounds and north of Core Sound, and for the purposes of this chapter the 
southern boundary line of Hyde County shall extend from the middle of 
Ocracoke Inlet to the Royal Shoal lighthouse, thence across Pamlico Sound 
and with the middle line of the Pamlico and Pungo rivers to the dividing line 
between the counties of Hyde and Beaufort, and the northern boundary line 
of Carteret County shall extend from the middle of Ocracoke Inlet to the 
Royal Shoal lighthouse, thence to the Brant Island Shoal lighthouse, thence 
across Pamlico Sound to a point midway between Maw Point and Point of 
Marsh, and thence with the middle line of the Neuse River to the dividing 
line between the counties of Carteret, Craven, or Pamlico, and that portion 
of Pamlico Sound and the Neuse and Pamlico rivers not within the bound- 
aries of Dare, Hyde or Carteret counties, and not a part of any other county, 
shall be in the county of. Pamlico, and for the purposes of this chapter and 
in the execution of the requirements thereof, the shore line as now defined 
by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey shall be accepted as correct. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2375. 

Sec. 43. Beds Entered, How. Any person a citizen and bona fide resident 
of the State desiring to raise, plant or cultivate shell fish upon any ground 
in the county, and within the territory described in the preceding section. 



FISHING LAWS 17 

■which has not been designated as public ground by the board of shell-fish 
commissioners and which is not a natural clam or oyster bed, may make 
application in writing, in which shall be stated as nearly as may be the area, 
limits and location of the ground desired, to the entry-taker of the county 
in which the said area for which application is made is situated, for a fran- 
chise for the purpose of raising or cultivating shell fish in said grounds, and 
the said entry-taker having received said application shall proceed as with 
all other entries as provided in the chapter entitled Grants, except that the 
warrant to survey and locate the ground or grounds shall be delivered to the 
engineer appointed by the Secretary of State and not to the county surveyor; 
and the said engineer shall make such surveys in accordance with the pro- 
visions of the chapter entitled Grants, except that it shall not be necessary 
to employ chainbearers nor to administer oaths to assistants, nor to make 
surveys, according to the priority of the application or warrant. No entry 
shall be made to cover any natural oyster or clam bed as defined in this 
chapter, nor of any land lying more than two miles from the main land or 
from any island. 

Rev. 1903, sec. 2376. 

Sec. 44. Grant IssTied by Secretary of State; Amount Limited. The Secre- 
tary of State, on receipt of the Auditor's certificate as provided in the Chap- 
ter on Grants, shall grant to the applicant a written instrument conveying a 
perpetual franchise for the purpose of raising and cultivating shell fish in 
and to the grounds for which application is made; and the said written in- 
strument of conveyance shall be authenticated by the Governor, counter- 
signed by the Secretary, and recorded in his office. The date of the applica- 
tion for the franchise and description of the ground for which such franchise 
was granted shall be inserted in each instrument, and no grant shall issue 
except in accordance with a certificate from the engineer appointed by the 
Secretary of State as to the area, limits and location of the grounds in which 
the said franchise is to be granted, and every person obtaining such grant 
or franchise shall, within three months from the receipt of the same, record 
said written instrument in the office of the register of deeds for the county 
wherein the said grounds may lie and shall define the boundaries of the said 
grounds by suitable stakes, buoys, ranges or monuments; but no franchise 
shall be given in or to any of the public grounds as determined by the 
commissioners of fisheries, or to any natural oyster or clam bed, and all 
franchises granted under this section or any previous law shall be and re- 
main in the grantee, his heirs and legal representatives: Provided, that the 
holder or holders shall make in good faith within five years from the day of 
obtaining said franchise an actual effort to raise and cultivate shell fish on 
said grounds. No grant shall be made to any one person of more than ten 
acres of any territory, and no person shall hold more than ten acres in any 
creek unless the same shall be acquired through devise, inheritance or 
marriage. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2378. 

Sec. 45. Price for Francliise. Not less than seventy-five cents per acre 
shall be paid to the State Treasurer for all franchises granted, and in all 
other respects as to protests of entry and the right of the Secretary of State 
to sell any one else at an increased price the chapter on Grants shall apply. 

Rev. 1905, Eec. 2379. 



18 NORTH CAROLINA 

Sec. 46. Subject of Taxation. All grounds taken up or held for the pur- 
pose of cultivating shell fish shall be subject to taxation as real estate, and 
shall l:e so considered in the settlement of the estates of deceased or insolvent 
persons. 

Kev. iyo.j, sec. 2380. 

Sec. 47. Kooord of firaiits by Secretary of State. The Secretary of State 
shall keep books of record in which shall be recorded a full description of all 
grounds granted under the provisions of this chapter, and shall keep a map 
or maps upon which shall be shown the positions and limits of all public and 
private grounds. 

Rev. 1903, tec. 2381. 

c. Leases. 
Sec. 48. Fisheries Coniniissioner Can Lease. The fisheries commissioner 
shall have power to lease to any duly qualified person, firm or corporation, 
for purposes of oyster or clam culture, any bottom of the waters of the State 
not a natural oyster bed, as defined in this act, nor a clam reservation, as 
defined in this act, in accordance with the provisions of this law. 

1909, ch. 871, £60. 1. 

Sec. 49. Leasing of Bottoms. Any citizen of North Carolina, or firm or 
corporation organized under the laws of the State and doing business within 
its limits, shall be granted the privilege of taking up bottoms for purposes of 
oyster or clam culture, under the provisions of this act, of an area not less 
than one acre nor more than fifty acres, with the exception of the open waters 
of Pamlico Sound (and for the purpose of this act open waters of Pamlico 
Sound shall mean the waters that are outside of two miles of the shore line), 
in which the minimum limit shall be five acres and the maximum shall be 
two hundred acres: Provided, that the limit of entry in Core Sound, North 
River, Newport River, Bogue Sound, and all bays and creeks bordering on 
these waters, and in Jones Ray, Rose Bay, Abels Bay, Swan Quarter Bay, 
Middle Bay, Bay River, Deep Bay, Juniper Bay, West and East Bluff bays, 
Wysocking Bay, Fire Creek, Stumpy Point Bay, Mouse Harbor Bay, Maw 
Bay, and Broad Creek, tributaries of Pamlico Sound, shall be one acre 
as a minimum and ten acres as a maximum: Provided further, however, 
that at the end of one year from the passage of this act the minimum area in 
Core Sound, North River, Newport River, Bogue Sound and all bays and 
creeks bordering on these waters, and in Jones Bay, Rose Bay, Abel's Bay, 
Swan Quarter Bay, M'ddle Bay, Bay River, Deep Bay, Juniper Bay, West and 
East Bluff bays, Wysocking Bay, Fire Creek, Stumpy Point Bay, Mouse Har- 
bor Bay, Maw Ray, and Broad Creek, tributaries of Pamlico Sound, shall be 
one acre and the maximum fifty acres; but no person, firm or corporation or 
association shall severally or collectively hold any interest in any lease or 
leases aggregating an area of greater than fifty acres, except in the open 
waters of Pamlico Sound, where the aggregate area shall be two hundred 
acres. 

It09, ch. 871, sec. 2. 

Sec. 50. Lease, How Obt:iined. Such persons, firms or corporations desir- 
ing to avail themselves of the privileges of this act shall make written appli- 
cation, on a form to be prepared by the fisheries commissioner, setting forth 



FISHING LAWS 19 

the name and address of the applicant, describing as definitely as may be the 
location and extent of the bottom for which application is made, and request- 
ing the survey and leasing to the applicant of said bottom. As soon as possi- 
ble after the application is received, the fisheries commissioner shall cause 
to be made a survey and map of said bottom, at the expense of the applicant. 
The fisheries commissioner shall also thoroughly examine said bottoms by 
sounding and by dragging thereover a chain to detect the presence of natural 
oysters. Should any natural oysters be found, the commissioner shall cause 
examination to be made and to ascertain the area and density of oysters on 
said bottom or bed, to determine whether the same is a natural bed, under 
the definition contained in this act. He shall be assisted in this examination 
on tonging ground by an expert tonger, to be appointed by the board of county 
commissioners of the county in which said bottom or the greater portion 
thereof is located, and the question as to whether the oyster growth is suf- 
ficiently dense to fall within the definition of the natural bed shall be de- 
termined by the quantity of oysters which the said expert tonger may be able 
to take in a specified time; and on dredging ground the commissioner shall be 
assisted by an expert dredger, appointed by the board of county commission- 
ers of the county in which said bottom or the greater portion thereof is lo- 
cated, and the question as to whether the oyster growth is sufficiently dense 
to fall within the definition of the natural bed shall be determined by the 
quantity of oysters which the said expert dredger may be able to take in a 
specified time. The fisheries commissioner shall require the bodies of bot- 
toms applied for to be as compact as possible, taking into consideration the 
shape of the body of water and the consistency of the bottom. No applica- 
tion shall be entertained nor lease granted for a piece of bottom within two 
hundred yards of a known natural bottom, bed, or reef. A deposit of ten dol- 
lars will be required of each applicant at the time of making his application, 
said sum to be credited to the cost of the survey of the bottom applied for. 

1909, ch. 871, sec. 3. 

Sec. 51. Marking of Leased Bottoms. Immediately upon the completion 
of the survey and the mapping thereof, and the payment by the applicant of 
the cost of said survey and map, the fisheries commissioner shall execute to 
the applicant, upon a form approved by the Attorney-General of the State, a 
lease for the bottoms applied for. A copy of the lease, map of the survey, 
and a description of the bottom, defining its position, shall be filed in the 
office of the fisheries commissioner. After the execution of said lease, the 
lessee shall have the sole right and use of said bottoms, and all shells, oysters 
and cultch therein or placed thereon shall be his exclusive property so long 
as he complies with the provisions of this law. The lessee shall stake off 
and mark the bottoms leased in the manner prescribed by the fisheries com- 
missioner, and failure to do so within a period of thirty days of an order so 
to do issued by the commissioner shall subject said lessee to a fine of five 
dollars per acre for each sixty days default in compliance with said order. 
The corner stakes, at least, of each lease shall be marked with signs plainly 
displaying the number of the lease and the name of the lessee. The lessee 
shall, within two years of the commencement of his lease, have planted upon 
his holdings a quantity of shells equal to an average of fifty bushels of seed 
oysters or shells per acre of holdings, and within four years from the com- 
mencement of his lease a quantity of oysters or shells equal to an average 
of not less than one hundred and twenty-five bushels per acre. The oyster 



20 NORTH CAROLINA 

commissioner shall, upon granting any lease, publish a notice of the granting 
of same in a newspaper of general circulation in the county wherein the 
bottom leased is located. 

1909, ch. 871, sec. 4. 

Sec. 52. Terms of Lease; Rental. All leases made under the provisions 
of this act shall begin upon the issuance of the lease and shall expire on the 
first day of April of the twentieth year thereafter. The rental shall be at the 
rate of one dollar per acre for the first ten years and two dollars per acre per 
year for the next ten years of the lease, payable annually in advance on the 
first day of April of each year: Provided, that in the open waters of Pamlico 
Sound (and for the purposes of this act the open waters of Pamlico Sound shall 
mean the waters that are outside the four miles of the shore line) the rental 
shall be at the rate of fifty cents per acre per year for the first three years, 
one dollar per acre per year for the next seven years, two dollars per acre 
per year for the next ten years of the lease. This rental shall be in lieu of 
all other taxes and imposts whatever, and shall be considered as all and the 
only taxation which can be imposed by the State, counties, municipalities, or 
other subordinate political bodies. The rental for the first year shall be paid 
in advance, to an amount proportioned to the unexpired part of the year to 
the first of April next succeeding. 

1909, ch. 871, sec. 5. 

Sec. 53. Transfer of Lease; Inheritance of. The said lease shall be 
heritable and transferable, in whole or in part, provided the qualifications of 
the heirs and transferees are such as are described by this act. Non-resi- 
dents, acquiring by inheritance or process sale, or persons already holding 
the maximum area permitted by this act, shall within a period of twelve 
months from the time of acquisition, dispose of said prohibited or excess of 
holding to some qualified person, firm or corporation, under penalty of for- 
feiture. The lease shall be subject to mortgage, pledge, seizure for debt, and 
the same other transactions as are other property rights in North Carolina. 
No transfer shall be of effect unless of court record, until entered on the 
books of the fisheries commissioner, 

1909, ch. 871, sec. 6. 

Sec. 54. Releasing of Bottoms. The term of each lease granted under the 
provisions of this act shall be for a period of twenty years from the first day 
of April preceding the date of granting of said lease. At the expiration of the 
first lea?e, the lessee, upon making written application on the prescribed 
form, shall be entitled to successive leases on the same terms as applied to 
the last ten years of the first lease, for a period not exceeding ten years each. 

1909, ch. 871, sec. 7. 

Sec. 55. Forfeiture of Lease. The failure to pay the rental of bottoms 
leased for each year in advance on or before the first day of April, or within 
thirty days thereafter, shall ipso facto cancel said lease and shall forfeit to 
the State the said leased bottoms and ail oysters thereon, and upon said 
forfeiture the fisheries commissioner is hereby authorized to lease the said 
bottoms to any qualified applicant therefor: Provided, that no forfeiture 
shall be valid, however, under the provisions of this section, unless there 
shall have been mailed by the fisheries commissioner to the last address of 
the lessee upon the books of the commissioner a thirty days notice of the 
maturity of said rental. 

1909, ch. 871, sec. 8. 



FISHING LAWS 21 

Sec. 56. Title Secure; Act Not Applicable to New Hanover. If any person, 
within four months of the publication of the notice of granting of any lease, 
make claim that a natural oyster bottom, bed or reef exists within the bound- 
aries of said lease, he shall, under oath, state his claim, and request the fish- 
eries commissioner to cancel said lease: Provided, however, that each such 
claim and petition shall be accompanied by a deposit of twenty-five dollars. 
No petition unaccompanied by said deposit shall be considered by the com- 
missioner. The fisheries commissioner shall, in person, examine into said 
claim, and, if the decision should be against the claimant, the deposit of 
twenty-five dollars shall be forfeited to the State and deposited to the credit 
of the fisheries commission fund. Should, however, the claim be sustained 
and a natural bed be found within the boundary of the lease, the said natural 
bed shall be surveyed and marked with stakes and buoys, at the expense of 
the lessee, and the said natural bed be thrown open to the public fishery. If 
no such claim be presented within a period of four mouths, or if when so 
presented it fail of substantiation, as provided, the lessee shall thereafter be 
secure from attack on such account, and his lease shall be incontestable so 
long as he complies with the other provisions of this act. In each and every 
such case the decision of the fisheries commissioner shall be subject to 
review and appeal before a judge of the superior court, who shall render a 
decision without the aid of a jury, and his decision shall be final. This act 
shall not apply to New Hanover County. 

1909, ch. 871, sec. 9. 

New HanoTer County. The following acts seem to have been repealed by 
Acts 1909, ch. 871, except as to New Hanover County, which seems to.be 
under the old law until the same may be changed by the Fisheries Commis- 
sion Board. I have therefore omitted these acts: Revisal of 1905, sees. 2372, 
2373, 2374, 2377, 2382; Acts 1907, ch. 969. 

2. Catching Oysters. 

a. In General. 

Sec. 57. Closed Season, Exceptions. If any person shall buy or sell oys- 
ters in the shell which have been taken from the public grounds or natural 
oyster beds of this State between the fifteenth day of April and the fifteenth 
day of October in any year, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined 
not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days: Pro- 
vided, that oysters may be taken with hand tongs from March fifteenth to 
May first and with dredges from March fifteenth to April fifth, in any year, 
to be used for planting on private grounds entered and held under the laws 
of this State, upon the condition further that they shall not be removed from 
said private grounds within a period of three months from time of planting: 
Provided further, that oysters may be taken with hand tongs, only for home 
consumption: Provided further, that coon oysters may be taken from No- 
vember first to May first of each year in the waters of Onslow and Carteret 
counties. 

1907, ch. 969, sec. 4; 1913, ch. 85; 1915, ch. 120. 

For New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender, see Infra, sec. 78. 

Sec. 58. Night and Sunday, Unlawful. If any person shall catch or take 
any oysters from any of the public grounds or natural oyster beds of the 
State at night or on Sunday, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined 
not exceeding fiftv dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2384. 



22 NORTH CAROLINA 

Sec. 59. Unloadiiifr on Sunday or at M^lit. If any person shall unload any 
oysters from any boat, vessel or cart at any factory or house for shipping, 
shucking or canning oysters on Sunday, or after sunset or before sunrise, he 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not more than fifty dollars or 
imprisoned not more than thirty days: Provided, whenever any boat or 
vessel shall have partially unloaded or discharged its cargo before sunset, the 
remainder of said load or cargo may be discharged in the presence of an 
inspector. 

Kev. 1905, sec. 2394. 

Sec. 60. Dealers to Keep Records. All persons engaged in buying, pack- 
ing, canning, shucking or shipping oysters shall keep a permanent record of 
all oysters either bought or caught by them, or by persons for them, when 
and from whom bought, the number of bushels and the price paid therefor. 
All these records shall at all times be open to the examination and inspection 
of the fisheries commissioner, assistant commissioner, and inspector, and 
upon request shall be verified by the parties making them. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2418. 

Sec. 61. Dealer Failing to Keep Record. If any person engaged in buying, 
packing, canning, shucking or shipping oysters, taken or caught from the pub- 
lic grounds or natural oyster beds of the State, shall fail to keep a permanent 
record of all oysters bought by him or caught by him, or by persons for him, 
when and from whom bought, the number of bushels and the price paid 
therefor, or shall fail upon demand to exhibit such record as required by law, 
or shall fail to verify the same, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be 
fined not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2396; 1915, ch. 136, sec. 2. 

Sec. 62. Arrest Without Warrant. The fisheries commissioner, assistant 
commissioner, and inspector shall have power with or without warrant to 
arrest any person violating any of the oyster laws. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2398. 

Sec. 63. Oyster Measure. All oysters measured in the shell shall be meas- 
ured in a circular tub with straight sides and straight, solid bottom, with 
holes in the bottom not more than one-half inch in diameter. The said meas- 
ure shall have the following dimensions: A bushel tub shall measure eigh- 
teen inches from inside to inside across the top, sixteen inches from inside 
to inside chimb to the bottom, and twenty-one inches diagonal from inside 
chimb to top. All measures found in the possession of any dealer not meet- 
ing the requirements of this section shall be destroyed by the fisheries com- 
missioner, assistant commissioner, or inspector. That any person using an 
unlawful measure for the sale or purchase of oysters shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor. 

Rev. 190.'), sec. 2417; 1907, ch. 969, sec. 10; Spec. Ses. 1913, ch. 42, sec. 2. 
For New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender, see Infra, sec. 79. 

Sec. 64. Using Illegal Measures. If any person shall in buying or selling 
oysters use any measure other than that prescribed by law for the measure- 
ment of oysters, or if any dealer in oysters shall have in his possession any 
measure for measuring oysters other than that prescribed by law, he shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not exceeding fifty dollars or impris- 
oned not exceeding thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2399. 



FISHING LAWS 23 



Sec. 65. Larceny from Private Beds. Any person who shall feloniously 
take, catch or capture or carry away any shell fish from the bed or ground of 
another shall he guilty of larceny and punished accordingly. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2401. 

Sec. 66. Injury to Private Beds; Work at Night. If any person shall will- 
fully commit any trespass or injury with any instrument or implement upon 
any ground upon which shell fish are being raised or cultivated, or shall 
remove, destroy or deface any mark or monument lawfully set up for the 
purpose of marking any grounds, or who shall work on any oyster ground at 
night, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. But nothing in the provisions of 
this section shall be construed as authorizing interference with the capture 
of migratory fishes or free navigation or the right to use on any private 
grounds any method or implement for the taking, growing or cultivation of 
shell fish. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2402. 

Sec. 67. Dredging, Wlien Allowed; Prohibited Territory. Any bona fide 
resident of the State duly licensed according to law and using a licensed boat 
or vessel may use scoops, scrapes or dredges in catching or taking oysters 
from the fifteenth day of November in each year to the first day of April fol- 
lowing, from the public grounds and natural oyster beds in the broad open 
waters of Pamlico Sound, Pamlico River, Neuse River, and Long Shoal River, 
except in those portions of said sound and rivers in which the use of such 
instruments and implements is prohibited as herein provided. No person 
shall use any implement or instrument except hand tongs in catching oysters 
in any bay, river, creek, strait, or any tributary of such which border upon 
or empty into Pamlico Sound, Pamlico River, or Long Shoal River, except as 
hereinafter provided; and any point inside of a line drawn from the farthest 
or extreme outward point of land or marsh on the one side to the farthest or 
extreme outward point of land or marsh on the opposite side of any creek, 
strait or bay, shall be construed to be within the said creek, strait or bay for 
the purpose of this section. Nor shall any person use any implement or in- 
strument except hand tongs in the waters of Pamlico Sound from what is 
known as the Reef or Reefs in the eastern portion of said sound to the line 
of banks bordering its eastern shores; nor along the shores of Pamlico 
County inside of a line beginning at Maw Point and running to the west end 
of Brant Island, thence to Pamlico Point; nor in the waters of Pamlico Sound 
north of a line running from Long Shoal light to Gull Shoal life-saving sta- 
tion, from the first day of February of each year to the fifteenth day of 
November, nor in any of the waters of Carteret County. And for the purpose 
of this section, the northern boundary of said county shall be a line extending 
from Swan Point to Harbor Island light, thence a line to Southwest Straddle 
light, thence a line to Northwest Point light, thence a line to the middle of 
Ocracoke Inlet; nor in the waters of Neuse River above a line in said river 
running from Carbacon buoy to the western point of land at Pierces Creek. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2413. 

Sec. 68. Dredges, Scoops, Etc., Illegal Use of. If any person shall use 
any scoops, scrapes or dredges for catching oysters except at the times and 
in the places in this chapter expressly authorized, or shall between the fifth 
day of April and the fifteenth day of November of any year carry on any boat 



24 NORTH CAROLINA 

or vessel any scoops, scrapes, dredges or winders, such as are usually or can 
be used for taking oysters, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, Ecc. 2385. 

Sec. 69. Evidence of Illegal I)ro(l!,'int,'. If any boat or vessel shall be seen 
sailing on any of the waters of this State during the season when the dredg- 
ing of oysters is prohibited by law in the same manner in which they sail to 
take or catch oysters with scoops, scrapes or dredges, the said boat or vessel 
shall be pursued by any officer authorized to make arrests, and if said boat 
or vessel apprehended by said officer shall be found to have on board any 
wet oysters or the scoops, scrapes, dredges or lines, or deck wet, indicating 
the taking or catching of oysters at said time, and properly equipped for 
catching or taking oysters with scoops, scrapes or dredges, such facts shall 
be prima facie evidence that said boat or vessel has been used in violation of 
the provisions of the law prohibiting the taking or catching of oysters with 
scoops, scrapes or dredges in prohibited territory, or at a season when the 
taking or catching of oysters with scoops, scrapes or dredges is prohibited 
by law, as the case may be. 

Rev. 1903, sec. 2397. 

Sec. 70. Oysters Culled; Size Limit. All oysters taken from the public 
grounds of this State, with whatsoever instrument or implement, shall be 
culled and all oysters whose shells measure less than two and one-half inches 
in longest diameter, except such as are attached to a large oyster and can 
not be removed without destroying the small oyster, and all shells taken 
with the said oysters, shall be returned to the public ground when and where 
taken, and no oysters shall be allowed by the inspectors to be marketed which 
shall consist of more than ten per cent of such small oysters and shells, 
except "coon" oysters and oysters largely covered with mussels: Provided, 
these musseled oysters must not contain more than five per cent of shells or 
small oysters under regulation size. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2415; 1907, eh. 969, sec. 8; Spec. Ses. 1913, ch. 42, sec. 1. 

For New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender, see Infra, sec. 80. 

Sec. 71. Selling Oysters Not Culled. If any person shall sell or offer for 
sale, transport or offer to traijsport out of the State, or from one point in the 
State to another, or have in his possession any oysters, which have not been 
properly culled according to law, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and 
be fined not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2392. 

Sec. 72. Purchase Oysters Not Culled by Boat Captain; Evidence, Proviso. 

That the captain of any run or buy boat who shall purchase oysters which 
have not been properly culled according to law shall upon conviction be 
fined two hundred dollars or imprisoned in the discretion of the court, and 
the having of unculled oysters aboard of his boat shall be prima facie evi- 
dence of his having purchased them. It shall be unlawful for any person, 
firm or corporation to purchase oysters which have not been properly culled 
according to law, and for each violation shall upon conviction be fined two 
hundred dollars or imprisoned in the discretion of the court: Provided, that 
when any person, firm or corporation shall furnish the captain of any run 
or buy boat with funds with which to purchase oysters, they shall not be held 



FISHING LAWS 25 

responsible for his acts and shall not be deemed the purchaser of such 
oysters. 
New Hanover, Onslow and Pender excepted from this act. 

1907, ch. 969, sec. 5. 

Sec. 73. Oysters Not Culled Pot on Public Grounds. Whenever oysters are 
offered for sale or loaded upon any vessel, car or train, without having been 
properly culled according to law, the commissioner, assistant commissioner, 
or inspector shall seize the boat, vessel, car or train containing the same and 
shall cause the said oysters to be scattered upon the public grounds, and the 
costs and expenses of said seizure and transportation shall be a prior lien to 
all liens on said boat, vessel, car or train, and if not paid on demand the 
officers making the seizure shall, after advertisement for twenty days, sell 
the same and make title to the purchaser, and after paying expenses as 
aforesaid pay the balance, if any, into the oyster fund. For the towing of 
said boat, a charge of three dollars and fifty cents ($3.50) per hour shall be 
charged against said boat for towage. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2416; 1907, ch. 969, sec. 9. 

For New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender, see Infra, sec. 81. 

Sec. 74. Sliells Scattered on Oyster Beds. The fisheries commissioner is 
hereby empowered to expend one-half of the balance to the credit of the 
oyster fund on the fifteenth day of April in each year for the purpose of buy- 
ing oyster shells and scattering the same on the natural oyster grounds of 
the State during the months of April and May. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2421. 

Sec. 75. Catching Oysters for Lime. If any person shall take or catch 
any live oysters to be burned for lime or for any agricultural or mechanical 
purpose, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not exceeding fifty 
dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days: Provided, that shells may 
be taken which do not contain more than five per cent of live oysters. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2400; 1907, ch. 969, sec. 12. 

For New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender, see Infra, sec. 82. 

Sec. 76. Vessels With Oysters go Through Canals, When. No boat or 
vessel loaded with oysters shall be permitted by the inspectors of South 
Mills and Coinjock to pass through the canals, which do not have a certificate 
showing that the cargo has been inspected and the tax paid thereon. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2420. 

Sec. 77. False Number on Boat. If any person shall display any other 
number on their sail than the one specified in their license, or display a 
number when the boat or vessel has not been licensed, he shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2388. 

b. Local. 
New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender. 1907, ch. 969, does not apply, but the 
following is still the law in these counties: 

Sec. 78. Closed Season; Exceptions. If any person shall buy or sell oys- 
ters in the shell which have been taken from the public grounds or natural 



26 NORTH CAROLINA 

oyster beds of this State between the first day of April and the first day of 
October in any year, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not 
more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days: Provided, 
that oysters may be taken with hand tongs only during the month of April 
in any year, to be used for planting on private grounds, entered and held 
under the laws of this State: Provided further, that oysters may be taken 
with hand tongs only for home consumption: Provided further, that coon 
oysters may be taken from October first to May first of each year in the 
waters of Onslow County: Provided, also, that it shall be lawful to take or 
catch oysters on public oyster grounds north of the line running from Point 
Peter to Duck Island, except between a line running from the east end of 
Hog Island to the beach and from Ballast Point to the beach in Dare County, 
to be sold to residents or non-residents, from April first to May fifteenth of 
each year, upon the payment by the purchaser of a tax of one and one-half 
cents per tub. 

Rev. 1905, £ec. 2383. 

Sec. 79. Oyster Measure. All oysters measured in the shell shall be meas- 
ured in a circular tub with straight sides and straight, solid bottom, with 
holes in the bottom not more than one-half inch in diameter. The said meas- 
ure shall have the following dimensions: A bushel tub shall measure eigh- 
teen inches from inside to inside across the top, sixteen inches from inside to 
inside chimb to the bottom and twenty-one inches diagonal from inside chimb 
to top. All measures used for buying or selling oysters shall have a brand, 
to be adopted by the fisheries commissioner, stamped therein by said com- 
missioner, assistant commissioner, or his lawful inspectors. All measures 
found in the possession of any dealer not meeting the requirements of this 
section shall be destroyed by said fisheries commissioner, assistant commis- 
sioner, or inspector. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2417. 

Sec. 80. Oysters Culled; Size Limit. All oysters taken from the public 
grounds of this State, with whatsoever instrument or implement, shall be 
culled and all oysters whose shells measure less than two and one-half inches 
from hinge to mouth, except such as are attached to a large oyster and can 
not be removed without destroying the small oyster, and all shells taken with 
the said oysters shall be returned to the public ground when and where 
taken, and no oyster shall be allowed by the inspectors to be marketed which 
shall consist of more than ten per cent of such small oysters and shells, 
except '"coon" oysters and oysters largely covered with mussels: Provided, 
these musseled oysters must not contain more than five per cent of shells or 
small oysters under regulation size. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2415. 

Sec. 81. Oysters Not Culled Put ou Public Ground. Whenever oysters are 
offered for sale or loaded upon any vessel, car or train, without having been 
properly culled according to law, the commissioner, assistant commissioner 
or inspector shall seize the boat, vessel, car or train containing the same, 
and shall cause the said oysters to be scattered upon the public grounds, and 
the costs and expenses of said seizure and transportation shall be a prior lien 
to all liens on said boat, vessel, car or train, and if not paid on demand the 
oflScers making the seizure shall, after advertisement for twenty days, sell the 



FISHING LAWS 27 

same and make title to the purchaser, and after paying expenses as aforesaid 
pay the balance, if any, into the oyster fund. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2416. 

Sec. 82. Catching Oysters for Lime. If any person shall take or catch 
any live oysters to be burned for lime or for any agricultural or mechanical 
purpose, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not exceeding fifty 
dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2400. 

Sec. 83. Oysters Carried Out of State, Where Loaded. If any person shall 
purchase and load on any vessel or boat any oysters to be carried out of the 
State in the shell, except at the following places, to wit: The south end of 
Roanoke Island, Stumpy Point Bay, Parched Corn Bay, Wysocking Bay, West 
Bluff Bay, Great Island Narrows or Swan Quarter Bay (as the fisheries com- 
missioner may determine), Portsmouth, Ocracoke, Bay River, mouth of Rose 
Bay or Harbor Island; or if any person shall load more than one boat or 
vessel at any of said places at one and the same time, or if any person shall 
load any boat or vessel with oysters to be carried out of the State without 
such vessel having an inspector on board at the time the oysters are deliv- 
ered, or shall carry any vessel loaded or partly loaded with oysters through 
the canals without a certificate showing that the oysters have been inspected 
and the taxes thereon paid, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined 
not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2393. 

Brunswick. (See also, sec. 167.) 

Sec. 84. Fire on Oyster Beds; Baking. That it will be unlawful for any 
person or persons to build a fire upon any natural oyster bed or rock at a 
place where oysters are in a state of growth. That it shall be unlawful for 
any person or persons to rake with clam rake any oyster bed or oyster rock. 
That any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding fifty ($50) dollars, or imprisoned 
not exceeding thirty days. 

1915, ch. 138. 

New Hanover. (See also, sees. 78-83, inclusive.) 

Sec. 85. Myrtle Grove Sound, Catching Oysters, When. If any person 
shall take or catch any oysters from Myrtle Grove Sound, from Perrines or 
Whitakers Creek to the headwaters of said sound in New Hanover County, 
from the first day of May until the first day of September, except for his own 
consumption, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined not more than 
fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than twenty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2426. 

Onslow. (See also, sees. 78-83, inclusive.) 

Sec. 86. Shell Fish, Taken When, Where, and How. (Act 1901, ch. 370, 
repealed.) 

That chapter three hundred and seventy of the Public Laws of one thousand 
nine hundred and one be and the same is hereby repealed. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person to take or catch any oysters or 
clams from the natural oyster beds heretofore staked off and defined by the 
shell fish commissioners of Onslow County, or from any ground, between the 



28 NORTH CAROLINA 

first days of April and October of each year, lying north of the following 
lines, to wit: Beginning at triangulation point "Mount Millow," on the 
western shore of New River, and running thence eastwardly to triangulation 
point "pond." the eastern short of New River. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person during the months of May, June 
and July of each year to take or catch oysters or clams from the natural 
oyster beds within the grounds lying south of the line mentioned above. 

That any person violating this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
upon conviction or confession in open court shall be fined not exceeding fifty 
dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. 

That it shall be the duty of the fisheries commissioners to keep the lines 
marking the natural oyster beds in said waters properly marked and 
staked off. 

1907, ch. 9.49. 

Sec. 87. Stump Sound, Closed Season, Except for Home Consumption, 
^Vhen. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to catch, 
take or carry away from the oyster beds in the waters of Stump Sound, in 
Onslow County, between Alligator Bay and the Pender County line, any oys- 
ters except for home consumption between the first day of March and the 
twenty-fifth day of October in any year. That any person, firm or corpora- 
tion violating any provision of this act shall, upon conviction, be fined not 
less than fifty dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days, in the discre- 
tion of the court. 

1915, ch. 130. 

Pender. (See sees. 78-83, inclusive.) 

Pamlico Sound. 

Sec. 88. Pamlico Sound, Unlawful to Dredge for Oysters in. That it shall 
be unlawful for any person to use any rakes, scrapes, scoops or dredges, or any 
other instrument or implement other than ordinary hand tongs, for the pur- 
pose of taking or catching oysters from the public oyster grounds or natural 
oyster beds in any of the waters of Pamlico Sound or its tributaries north of 
a line running from West Bluff Bay to the center of Ocracoke Inlet. Any 
person found guilty of the violation of this act shall be punished by a fine not 
less than twenty-five dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days. 

1909, ch. 559. 

3. Catching- Clams. 

Sec. 89. Brunswick, ^'^ew Hanover, and Pender, Clams Protected. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to take clams in the 
counties of Brunswick, New Hanover or Pender, from any of the waters 
thereof, for the purpose of bedding for market or for shipment from the said 
counties, from the twenty-fifth day of March to the fifteenth day of December 
of each year: Provided, however, that citizens of the said counties shall 
have the privilege at all times of the year to catch clams for selling in any of 
the said counties, in small quantities, for table use only. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to purchase 
clams in the counties of Brunswick, New Hanover or Pendet" for the purpose 
of shipping from said counties, or for any person, firm or corporation to 



FISHING LAWS 29 

ship from the said counties of Brunswick, New Hanover or Pender any clams 
at any times from the twenty-fifth day of March to the fifteenth day of Decem- 
ber of every year. 

That any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this act 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined for each 
offense not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, in 
the discretion of the court. 

1909, ch. 879. 

Brunswick Only. 

That section two, chapter eight hundred and seventy-nine, Public Laws of 
one thousand nine hundred and nine, be amended, so far as it relates to 
Brunswick County, by striking out "twenty-fifth day of March to the fifteenth 
day of December" and adding in lieu thereof "first day of March to the first 
day of November." That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to 
catch any clams for use or for sale under one and one-half inches in diameter 
in the waters of Brunswick County; and upon conviction shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor. 

1913 Pub. Loc, ch. 805. 

New HanoTcr. (See also, sec. 89.) 

Sec. 90. Masonlioro Sound, Clam Fishing in. That it shall be unlawful for 
any person or persons to use any rake or other instrument with more than 
two prongs for the purpose of taking clams from any natural oyster rock or 
the other waters of Masonboro Sound, in the county of New Hanover, be- 
tween what is known as Fowler's Landing to Cockle Shell Point, in said 
county, a distance of about one mile. That any person violating the pro- 
visions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall 
be fined not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

1909, ch. 521. 

Onslow. 

Sec. 91. Browns Sound and Queens Creek, Clams Protected. That it shall 
be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to catch or take any clams 
from the waters herein described between the first day of April and the first 
day of October. Said territory shall be as follows: Beginning at the mouth of 
Queens Creek, in Onslow County, and running the various courses of the said 
Queens Creek channel to Bogue Inlet, including all the waters south of said 
channel to the Horse Ford, between Brown Sound and New River: Provided, 
this act shall not be so construed as to prohibit any one from catching clams 
for their own table use only. That any person, firm or corporation violating 
any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more 
than thirty days. 

1909, ch. 514. 

Jfewport River. 

Sec. 92. Newport River; Clams, Closed Season. That it shall be unlawful 
for any person or persons, firm or corporation, between the fifteenth day of 
April and the fifteenth day of October of any year, to take any clams from 
the waters of Newport River and its tributaries, for the purpose of shipping, 
selling, marketing or bedding the same. Any person or persons, firm or cor- 
poration violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 



30 NORTH CAROLINA 

and upon conviction shall be fined not less than ten dollars ($10) for each 
offense, or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days, or both, in the discretion 
of the court. 

1907, ch. 840. 

Pender. (See sec. 89.) 

V. TEKR.VPIN 

Sec. 93. Drasr Nets by Non-residents Prohibited. If any person who is not 
a citizen and who has not resided in the State continuously for the preceding 
two years shall use any drag net or other instrument for catching terrapin 
he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2369. 

Sec. 94. Diamond-back Protected. If any person shall take or catch any 
diamond-back terrapin between the fifteenth day of April and the fifteenth 
day of August of any year, or any diamond-back terrapin at any time, of less 
size than five inches in length upon the bottom shell, or shall interfere with, 
or in any manner destroy any eggs of the diamond-back terrapin, he shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than five dollars, nor 
more than ten dollars, for each and every diamond-back terrapin so taken 
or caught, and a like sum for each and every egg interfered wath or destroyed: 
Provided, this section shall not apply to parties empowered by this State to 
propagate the said diamond-back terrapin; and the possession of any dia- 
mond-back terrapin between the fifteenth days of April and August shall be 
prima facie evidence that the person having the same has violated this sec- 
tion. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs and constables to give immediate 
information to some justice of the peace of any violation of this section. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2370. 

Carteret County. 

Sec. 95. Diamond-back Terrapin.. That any bona fide citizen of Carteret 
County, North Carolina, is hereby given permission and empowered to culti- 
vate and propagate the diamond-back terrapin at one place in the waters of 
Carteret County, North Carolina: Provided, that the said person or persons 
thus empowered to propagate said diamond-back terrapin shall not in any 
way at any time interfere with eggs laid by the wild diamond-back terrapin 
in its natural haunts: Provided further, that after January first, nineteen 
hundred and fifteen, no undersized terrapin shall be caught or taken for 
propagation or for any other purpose during the closed season prescribed by 
law in regard to catching terrapin. 

That for and in consideration of the privilege granted by the State of North 
Carolina to the said person or persons to propagate the diamond-back terra- 
pin, the said person and persons, in order to obtain the benefits of this act, 
begin and continue the cultivation and propagation of the diamond-back 
terrapin in a manner that is considered and declared feasible and practicable 
by the United States Bureau of Fisheries: Provided, that if at any time the 
said person or persons shall violate any of the laws of the State of North 
Carolina regarding the diamond-back terrapin in the waters thereof, then 
this permit shall become void and the said person or persons shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned, in the 
discretion of the court. 

Priv. Laws 1913, ch. 402; Spec. Ses. 1915, Pub. hoc, ch. 58. 



FISHING LAWS 31 



VI. FISHING 

1. In General. 

2. General Local Laws. 

3. Local Laws (Commercial Fishing). 

a. Counties. 

b. Localities. 

4. Local Laws (Non-commercial Fishing). 

a. Counties. 

b. Localities. 
1. In General. 

a. Fisheries. 

b. Non-residents. 

c. Explosives, Poisons, Obstructions, and Sunday Fishing. 

d. Nets and Stakes. 

e. Measure for Scrap. 

a. Fisheries. 

Sec. 96. PriTate Fishery, Eight to. Whenever any person shall acquire 
title to lands covered by navigable water under the chapter entitled Grants, 
the owner or person so acquiring title shall have the right to establish fish- 
eries upon said lands; and whenever the owners of such lands shall improve 
the same by clearing off and cutting therefrom logs, roots, stumps or other 
obstruction, so that the said land may be used for the purpose of drawing or 
hauling nets or seines thereon for the purpose of taking or catching fish, then 
and in that case the person who makes or causes to be made the said im- 
provements, his heirs and assigns, shall have prior right to the use of the 
land so improved, in drawing, hauling, drifting or setting nets or seines 
thereon, and it shall be unlawful for any person, without the consent of such 
owner, to draw or haul nets or seines upon the land so improved by the 
owner thereof for the purpose of drawing or hauling nets or seines thereon; 
and this section shall apply where the owner of such lands shall erect plat- 
forms or structures of any kind thereon to be used in fishing with nets and 
seines; and every person who shall willfully destroy or injure the said plat- 
form or structures, or shall interfere with or molest the owner in the use of 
such lands as aforesaid, or in any other manner shall violate this section, 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor: Provided, this section shall not be so con- 
strued as to relieve any person from punishment for the obstruction of 
navigation. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2460. 

Sec. 97. Fisheries, Injury to. If any person shall willfully destroy or 
injure any platform or structure on any land covered by navigable waters, 
which land has been duly entered and granted and over which the owner has, 
according to law, acquired a prior right of fishery, or shall interfere with or 
molest the owner in the use thereof or of said prior right of fishery, he shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

If any person shall willfully destroy or injure any platform or structure 
erected in any navigable water by the owner of the adjoining land for the 
purpose of drawing or hauling nets or seines thereon, or shall interfere with 



32 NORTH CAROLINA 

or molest the owner in the use of any such lands, he shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, Bees. 3414, 3415. 

b. Non-residents. 
Sec. 98. Xon-residents Prohibited from Using Seines; Exception. If any 

person who has not resided in the State continuously for at least twelve 
months next preceding the day on which he shall begin to take fish shall use, 
or cause to be used, in any of the waters of the State, any weir, hedge, net or 
seine, for the purpose of taking fish for sale or exportation, or if any person 
shall assist in using, or be interested in using or causing to be used, in any 
such waters for the purpose aforesaid, any weir, hedge, net, seine or tongs 
in the use of which any such non-resident person may have an interest, he 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Nothing herein shall prevent any person 
from fishing with seines hauled to the shore at any fishery, the title to which 
fishery or any interest therein having been acquired by such person by pur- 
chase or inheritance. This section shall not extend to servants employed to 
fish by any persons allowed to fish in the navigable waters of the State: 
Provided, no non-resident of the State shall make any sale, assignment or 
transfer of any fishery, weir, or other fishing apparatus, or privilege men- 
tioned in this section, to any citizen of the State for the purpose of operating 
and working said fishery, weir, or other fishing apparatus as aforesaid, under 
the name and ownership of such citizen, or as the servant or employee of any 
citizen; and any sale, transfer or assignment not made bona fide and for a 
full consideration shall be null and void. Upon affidavit founded upon infor- 
mation and belief that any non-resident of the State is operating any such 
fishery, weir or other fishing apparatus as aforesaid in the waters of the 
State, under such sale, assignment or transfer, as the pretended servant or 
employee of any citizen of the State, it shall be the duty of the justice of the 
peace before whom said affidavit is made, to issue a warrant against the said 
non-resident and citizen under whose name said fishery is operated, and upon 
conviction the said offenders shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, for 
every offense, be fined not more than fifty dollars, or imprisoned not more 
than thirty days. Upon the said trial, the burden of proof shall be on the 
defendants to prove the bona fides and full consideration of said sale or 
transfer. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2467. 

Sec. 99. Non-residents Forbidden to Fisli for Menhaden. That it shall be un- 
lawful for any person, persons, firm or corporation, not a citizen or resident of 
the State of North Carolina, to catch, capture or otherwise take any menhaden 
or fatbacks within the waters of the State of North Carolina to the extreme 
limits of the State's jurisdiction in and over said waters; and for the purpose 
of this act the following boundaries are hereby declared to be the boundaries 
to which the waters of the said State extend, to wit: A distance of three (3) 
nautical miles, measured from the outer beach or shores of the State of 
North Carolina out and into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean; and any por- 
tions or portion of any water within a distance of three (3) nautical miles 
from said waters of the Atlantic Ocean to any beach or shore of said State 
shall be deemed, for the purposes of this act, within the waters of said State: 
Provided, that any citizen or resident of the State of North Carolina, whether 
person, firm or corporation, may take, capture or catch any menhaden or fat- 
backs at any time, subject to existing laws. 



FISHING LAWS 33 

That it shall be unlawful for any non-resident person, persons, firm or 
corporation to knowingly buy, cook or manufacture into fertilizer any men- 
haden or fatbacks caught, taken or captured contrary to the provisions of 
this act. 

That any person, persons, firm or corporation violating any of the pro- 
visions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction in 
any county opposite the place at which said act is done, shall be fined not less 
than twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500) or imprisoned for two years, or 
both, in the discretion of the court: Provided, that each catch, or taking, or 
purchase, or act of manufacture, shall constitute a distinct and separate 
offense. 

That it shall be the duty of the fisheries commissioner or assistant commis- 
sioner, whenever an affidavit is delivered to him stating that the affiant is in- 
formed and believes that said act is being violated at any particular place, 
to go himself or send a duly authorized deputy to such place, investigate the 
same, and such officer shall seize and remove all nets, machinery or other 
appliances and paraphernalia setting or being used in violation of this act, 
sell same at public auction, and apply the proceeds of such sale to the pay- 
ment of costs and expenses of such removal, and pay any balance remaining 
into the school fund of the county nearest to the place where the offense is 
committed. 

1911, ch. 102. 

c. Explosives and Poisons, Obstructions and Sunday Fishing. 
Sec. 100. Explosives, Dnig's, and Poisons Forbidden. It shall be unlawful 
to place in any of the waters of this State any dynamite, giant or electric 
powder, or any explosive substance whatever, or any drug or poisoned bait, 
for the purpose of taking, killing or injuring fish. And any one violating this 
section shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than one hundred dollars and 
imprisoned not less than thirty days. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 19. 

Sec. 101. Explosives for Killing Fish Prohibited; Evidence. The posses- 
sion of fish killed by explosive agencies shall be prima facie evidence that 
explosives were used for the purpose of killing fish. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2466; 1911, ch. 170. 

Sec. 102. Discharge of Deleterious Matter Into Waters, Forbidden. It 

shall be unlawful to discharge or to cause or permit to be discharged into the 
waters of the State any deleterious or poisonous substance or substances 
inimical to the fishes inhabiting the said waters; and any person, persons or 
corporation violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and, upon conviction, be fined or imprisoned in the discretion of 
the court: Provided, this section shall not apply to corporations chartered 
either by general law or special act before the ratification of this act. 

1915, ch. 84, sec. 20. 

Sec. 103. Poisoning Streams Forbidden. If any person shall put any pois- 
onous substance for the purpose of catching, killing or driving off any fish in 
any of the waters of a creek or river, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 3417. 

Sec. 104. Fish Offal in JVavigable Waters Prohibited. If any person shall 
throw, or cause to be thrown, into the channel of any of the navigable waters 



34 NORTH CAROLINA 

of the State, any fish offal, in any quantity that shall be likely to hinder or 
prevent the passage of fish along such channel, or if any person shall throw 
or cause to be thrown into the waters known as the Frying Pan, tributary to 
the Great Alligator River, in Tyrrell County, any fish offal in any quantities 
whatsoever, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2444. 

Sec. 105. Streams Obstructed, Misdemeanor. If any person shall set a net 
of any description across the main channel of any river or creek, or shall 
erect, so as to extend more than three-fourths of the distance, across any 
such river or creek any stand, dam, weir, hedge or other obstruction to the 
passage of fish, or shall erect any stand, dam, weir or hedge in any part of 
any river or creek that may be left open for the passage of fish, or who, hav- 
ing erected any dam where the same was allowed, and shall not make and 
keep open such slope or fishway as may be required by law to be kept open 
for the free passage of fish, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2457. 

Sec. 106. Sunday Fiishing. If any person fish on Sunday with a seine, 
drag net or other kind of net, except such as is fastened to stakes, he shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined not less than two hundred or more 
than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than twelve months. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 3841. 

d. Nets and Stakes. 

Sec. 107. Robbing Nets. If any person shall, without authority of the 
owner, take any fish from any nets of any kind, he shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2478. 

Sec. 108. Drift Nets in Sounds, ^Vlien and Where. If any person shall 
drift or fish any drift nets between the first day of February and the first day 
of May of any year, within two miles of the mouth of any river emptying 
into Albemarle Sound, or within three miles of any seine beach on the Albe- 
marle or Croatan sounds while being fished, or wathin ten miles of Ocracoke, 
Hatteras, Oregon or New inlets, or within ten miles of the Roanoke marshes, 
he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not less than fifty dollars 
or imprisoned not less than thirty days: Provided, the people of Dare 
County shall be allowed to use drift nets for herring. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2446. 

Sec. 109. Nets in Inlets Prohibited, When. If any person shall set any 
pound net, dutch net or hedge net within two miles of Oregon Inlet or Hat- 
teras Inlet, or within ten miles of New Inlet in Dare County, North Carolina, 
or shall between the first day of January and the first day of May following 
of any year, set or operate any seine or stationary nets of any kind in the 
main channels within three miles of the inside mouths of Ocracoke, Hatteras, 
Oregon, or any other inlet north of Ocracoke Inlet, connecting the waters of 
the Atlantic Ocean with any of the sounds or other inland waters of North 
Carolina, or shall fish with seines or nets of any description in the waters of 
Bear Inlet or Browns Inlet, or within one mile of Bear Inlet or Browns Inlet, 
on the eastern or western beach of said inlets, except at regularly established 



FISHING LAWS 35 

fisheries on said Bear or Browns inlet beaches, or shall fish with seines or 
nets on the inside of said Bear or Browns inlet within one-fourth mile of 
said inlets between the first day of October and the first day of April, he 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2450. 

Sec. 110. Menhaden Fishing-, Kind of Net and Where; Exceptions. If any 

person shall catch any menhaden or fatbacks within the waters of the State 
of North Carolina, to the extreme limits of the State's jurisdiction in and 
over such waters in any purse net or purse seine with a bar of less than one 
inch and with a mesh of less than two inches, or shall knowingly cook or 
manufacture for fertilizer any menhaden or fatbacks caught in any net or 
seine having bars of less than one inch or having meshes of less than two 
inches at any place within the State of North Carolina, he shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and for each and every offense shall be fined not less than 
five hundred dollars or imprisoned for one year, or both, in the discretion of 
the court. For the purpose of this section the following boundaries are 
hereby declared to be the boundaries to which the waters of the said State 
extend, to wit: A distance of three nautical miles, measured from the outer 
beach or shores of the State of North Carolina out and into the waters of the 
Atlantic Ocean; and any portions of any water within a distance of three 
miles from said waters of the Atlantic Ocean to any beach or shore of said 
State shall be deemed within the waters of said State for the purposes of this 
section. This section shall not apply to the counties of Dare, Brunswick, 
Pender and New Hanover. Every person found fishing for menhaden or fat- 
backs within three miles of the shore of any county, except the counties of 
Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender, shall be presumed to have violated 
this section. And all such persons, firms or corporations shall be subject to 
all the pains and penalties denounced in this section, and they may be prose- 
cuted in the courts of any county in this State. All persons aiding and 
abetting shall be guilty as principals. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2438. 

Sec. 111. Vessel Injuring Jfets. If any master or other person having the 
management or control of a vessel or boat of any kind, in the navigable 
waters of the State, shall willfully, wantonly and unnecessarily do injury to 
any seine or net, which may be lawfully hauled, set or fixed in said waters 
for the purpose of taking fish, he shall forfeit and pay to the owner of such 
seine or net, or other person injured by such act, one hundred dollars, and 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2465. 

Sec. 112. Pamlico, Croatan, Currituck and Albemarle, IVet Stakes Removed, 
When. Every person who shall set or use any net in the waters of Pamlico, 
Croatan, Currituck or Albemarle sounds or their tributaries, except Perqui- 
mans River, shall be required to pull up and remove their net stakes within 
thirty days from the day the nets were taken from them, and not later than 
the first day of June, and any person failing to pull up and remove their 
stakes as required by this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined 
not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2448. 



36 NORTH CAROLINA 

e. Measure for Sercij). 

Sec. 113. Fish Scrap and Oil, Standard Measure. That for the purpose of 
uniformity in the trade of manufacturing fish scrap and oil in the State of 
North Carolina, there is hereby established a standard measure of twenty- 
two thousand cubic inches for every one thousand fish. 

That any person, firm, corporation or syndicate buying or selling menhaden 
fish for the purpose of manufacture within the borders of this State, who 
shall measure the fish by any other standard (more or less) than is prescribed 
in this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be 
fined not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not to exceed thirty days: 
Provided, that each day said measure is unlawfully used shall constitute a 
separate and distinct offense. 

19H, ch. 101. 

2. General Local Laws. 

Sec. 114. Albemarle Sound; Gill INets Prohibited, Where and How; Nets 
Confiscated, When. That it shall be unlawful to set, fish or use any gill nets 
of any description, either stake, anchor or drift, for commercial purposes, in 
the Albemarle Sound west of a line drawn straight from Batts Island on 
northern side of Albemarle Sound to mouth of Scuppernong River on south 
side of said sound, except between the hours of four o'clock and eleven 
o'clock p. m., and then said nets or combinations of such nets shall not be 
more than six hundred yards in length and there shall not be allowed to any 
boat more than six hundred yards of such gill nets. 

It shall be the duty of the fish commissioner or other persons entrusted 
with the enforcement of the fishery laws of the State, to seize and remove 
any gill net of any description being set, setting or being used in violation of 
this act, or which is more than six hundred yards in length, and to dispose of 
the same as provided by law. 

It shall be the duty of the fish commissioner to keep a deputy, assistant or 
inspector on the waters of Albemarle Sound to enforce this act and the other 
fish laws applicable to official bond liable to the penalty prescribed in section 
one, chapter eighteen, Public Laws one thousand nine hundred and eleven. 
(Section 143 of this codification.) 

Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this act shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not less than two 
hundred dollars (one-half to go to the informant and the other half to the 
school fund), or imprisoned in the discretion of the court. 

1913, ch. 43. 

Sec. 115. Albemarle Sound; Gill Nets, Tyrrell County Shore. That it shall 
be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to set or use for catching fish 
any anchor gill net within fourteen hundred yards of any stake gill net of 
from four and one-half inch to five and one-half inch mesh, in that part of 
Albemarle Sound embraced in the following area: Commencing on the east 
shore of the Scuppernong River where said river empties into the Albemarle 
Sound, thence north to the middle of the Albemarle Sound, thence along the 
middle of the Albemarle Sound to a point in the sound opposite Newberry 
Pier, thence to the shore at Newberry Pier, and along the sound shore to the 
beginning. 

Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this act shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not more than 
fifty dollars or be imprisoned for not more than thirty days. 

1915, ch. 112. 



FISHING LAWS 37 

Sec. 116. Albemarle Sound, Aucbor, Drift or Staked Gill Nets Prohibited. 

If any person shall set or fish an anchor, drift or staked gill net in the 
waters of Albemarle Sound or its tributaries west of a line running from 
Skinner's Point buoy to Roanoke lighthouse, or if any person shall east of 
said line set or fish in the waters of said sound or its tributaries any anchor, 
drift or staked gill net longer than one thousand yards, or combination of 
such nets longer than one thousand yards; or shall set or fish any anchor, 
drift or staked gill net within one and one-half miles of any seine grounds 
on the said sound or rivers emptying therein or within one-half mile of any 
dutch net stand where the same is now located in said sound or rivers, unless 
said seine ground or dutch net stand is owned by the person setting such 
nets; or shall set or fish any line or row of anchor, drift or staked gill nets 
anywhere in said sound or rivers nearer to any other row of such nets than half 
the length of the longer of said row, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor 
and shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars or be imprisoned not 
more than thirty days. And any person who shall willfully violate the pro- 
visions of this section shall forfeit and pay for each violation of the same the 
sum of one hundred dollars to be recovered in a civil action by any one who 
will sue therefor; one-half of said recovery shall inure to the benefit of the 
public school fund: Provided, that nothing in this section shall prevent the 
setting of gill nets in the Chowan River or its tributaries, above Holliday's 
Island: Provided further, that one-third of said stream, along the channel, 
shall be kept free from any class of net: Provided further, that no pound 
net shall be set within one hundred yards of any other pound net set by 
another person in the Chowan River, north of Holliday's Island. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2451; 1911, ch. 104. 

Sec. 117. Albemarle Sound and Tributaries, Dutch N^ets, Etc., in. No per- 
son shall set or fish any dutch net or pound net in Roanoke River, Cashie or 
Middle and Eastmost rivers, or within two miles of the mouth of said rivers, 
or within one mile of the mouth of any other river emptying into Albemarle 
Sound, of less than two miles in width at its mouth, and any such net set 
within one mile of the mouth of any other river emptying into said sound 
shall not extend into the main channel at its mouth. No person shall set or 
fish with a dutch net or pod net within half a mile to the eastward or west- 
ward of the outside windlasses or snatch-blocks of any seine fishery in 
operation on said sound; and any such net set or fished within one mile of 
such windlasses or snatch-blocks of any seine fishery in operation shall 
run at right angles to the shore and shall not extend further into the sound 
from the water's edge than the distance from such windlasses or snatch- 
blocks to the line of such net; and all persons who shall set or fish any such 
net in said sound shall pull up and remove the stakes used for the same by 
the first day of June next succeeding the fishing season, and if any person 
shall set or fish any dutch net or pod net in said sound in violation of this 
section he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be subject to a penalty of 
three hundred dollars: Provided, that dutch nets may be used in Cashie 
River two and one-half miles from its mouth, if they do not extend more 
than one-third of the width of said river from the shore, and such nets may 
be along the sound shore on the Bertie County side between the following 
points along said shore, to wit: Commencing at the mouth of Cherry Tree 
Cut Branch, Kentrock Field and Landing Field, and running around the 
shore to the mouth of Morgan Swamp, thence to Rock Spring Branch, and 



38 NORTH CAROLINA 

that any nets set or fished within that line shall not extend from the shore in 
any direction a greater distance than six hundred and fifty yards measured 
at high water, and within this distance of six hundred and fifty yards is to 
be included the nets, hedges and all parts thereof. 

Rev. 1905, Bee. 2439; 1909, ch. 540, sec. 2; 1911, ch. 23. 

Sec. 118. Albemarle Sound; Nets Near Norfolk and Southern Bridge; Nets 
Near Wbarves; Drift Nets in Koauoke Kiver. That it shall be unlawful to 
set any pound or dutch nets in Albemarle Sound nearer to either side of the 
Norfolk Southern Railroad bridge across said sound than three hundred 
yards, or to set any stake, drift or anchor gill nets nearer to either side of 
said bridge than one-half mile. 

That it shall be unlawful to set any net of any description in front of a 
wharf, that is, between the pier of any wharf now used as a landing for any 
steamboat and the middle of the stream in which the wharf is built. 

That it shall be unlawful to fish any drift nets in the Roanoke River over 
twenty yards in length, and no net shall drift within three hundred yards of 
another net, and no two nets shall drift abreast of each other. 

Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor and fined not less than one hundred dollars or imprisoned in the 
discretion of the court. 

1911, ch. 163. 

. Sec. 119. Black Kiyer, Catch Fish, "When. That it shall be unlawful for 
any person or persons to catch or take fish, either by rod or hook, seines, 
nets, striking, muddying the pools or lagoons, feeling by hand, gigging, or in 
any other method or in any manner whatsoever, during the months of May, 
June, July and August, excepting Tuesday and Friday of each week in' each 
year, in the waters of Black River and its tributaries, in the counties of 
Pender and Bladen. Any person or persons violating the provisions of this 
act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction fined not less than 
five dollars ($5) nor more than ten dollars ($10), or imprisoned not more 
than thirty days, one-half of the fine to be paid to the informer and one-half 
to the school fund. 

1909, ch. 478. 

Sec. 120. Black River and Mingo Creek, Other Than Hook and Line. If 

any person shall fish in that part of Black River in Sampson and Cumber- 
land counties and below the Atlantic Coast Line Railway bridge, or in Mingo 
Creek in said counties below the Averasboro and Clinton road otherwise than 
with a hook and line, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2471. 

Sec. 121. Black River, Closed Season in Bladen, Cumberland and Sampson. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person to catch with hook and line, seine, 
or destroy with gun or any gig or striking iron the fish in the waters of 
Black River and its tributaries in the counties of Bladen, Cumberland and 
Sampson from the fifteenth day of May until the fifteenth day of August in 
each and every year. Any person violating this act shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor and shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than twenty- 
five dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than thirty days, for 
each and every offense. 

Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 623, sec. 1. 
And see Infra, b. Localities, sec. 209. 



PISHING LAWS 39 

Sec. 122. Cape Fear Rirer, Fishing by Non-residents Prohibited. If any 

person who is a non-resident of the State shall catch fish, for marketable 
purposes, in the waters of the Cape Fear River, or any of its tributaries, he 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined or im- 
prisoned at the discretion of the court. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 3416. 

Sec. 123. Cape Fear and Northeast Rivers, Dutch Nets Prohibited, Etc. 

That it shall be unlawful to fish with dutch, pod, fyke or other pound nets, or 
stake or stationary nets, or nets of like kind, in the waters of the Cape Fear 
River below the mouth of Black River, twelve miles above Wilmington, or in 
the waters of Northeast River below the Castle Hayne bridge. 

That drift nets shall be permitted in the waters of the Cape Fear River within 
the territory described in this act and its tributaries, between February first 
and May first of each year. 

That any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor and fined not less than fifty dollars or imprisoned not less than 
thirty days. 

1909, ch. 841; Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 278. 

Sec. 124. Cape Fear River, Seine and Nets in. When, How. If any person 
shall use any net for catching sturgeon in the waters of New Hanover County, 
the bars of the meshes of which net shall be less than ten inches in the 
diamond; or shall haul a seine or nets or pod fish within three hundred yards 
of any established fishery, except with the nets of such fishery; or shall set 
or fish any stationary nets in the waters of the Cape Fear River, except on 
the east side thereof and in New Hanover County; or shall set any net in 
said river otherwise than east or west, or shall own or control more than one 
line of nets, or shall operate or fish any shad nets in Cape Fear River below 
the mouth of Brunswick between the fifteenth day of April and the fifteenth 
day of January of any year; or shall set any set net or stationary net of any 
kind in the Cape Fear River north of the mouth of Brunswick River, or in the 
Brunswick River; or shall operate any drift net in the Cape Fear River of 
more than three hundred yards in length, or shall catch shad in said river 
with seines or nets from the twentieth of April to the fifteenth of January, 
he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. The possession of a sturgeon net with 
meshes of a size smaller than allowed by this section shall be prima facie 
evidence of having fished the same. In setting nets in Cape Fear River as 
allowed by this section the following rules shall prevail: They shall begin 
at a point one hundred yards from the edge of the channel on the east side 
of said river and running thence due east one hundred and twenty yards, then 
leaving a gap of one hundred and twenty yards. Then from the east end of 
said gap another net may be set one hundred and twenty yards only, and to 
continue in the same proportion, always requiring a gap of one hundred and 
twenty yards to intervene between each one hundred and twenty yards of 
nets so set and no net or sets of nets of any kind shall be placed opposite said 
gaps, within a distance of a half mile of same, and none of the nets so set shall 
be nearer than a half mile of the west shore of said Cape Fear River. Any 
established fishery in the meaning of this section is one where there is a 
camp for the use of the hands, and where the seine or nets and boats used 
by said fishery are kept, and where the said fishery was established prior to 
the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine. That 



40 NORTH CAROLINA 

any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars or im- 
prisoned not more than thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2468; 1907, ch. 752. 

Sec. 125. Cape Fear River, Fish Traps in. If any person shall construct, 
operate or maintain any fish traps in the Cape Fear River, or shall fail to 
remove all traps now in the channel of said river within sixty days from the 
first day of March, one thousand nine hundred and five; or shall fail on the 
first day of June of each year to remove the slats or fingers from any fish 
trap allowed to be operated in said river under this section, he shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor. This section shall not apply to Brunswick or New 
Hanover counties or to a fish trap which extends to not more than one-third 
the channel of said river. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2483. 

Sec. 126. IVortheast Cape Fear River, Seines, Nets and Traps, Wlien, How. 

If any person shall fish in the northeast branch of the Cape Fear River with 
seine, net or trap, from the twenty-third day of February to the first day of 
July of any year, between the hours of six o'clock p. m. on Saturday and six 
o'clock p. m. on Monday of each week, or shall at any time use more than 
one seine at a time in any fishing hole in said river, or use, set or place in 
said river any hedge, trap or other obstruction which will prevent the free 
passage of fish up said river, which said hedge, trap or other obstruction 
shall extend more than one-third across the main channel of the said river, 
he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. This section shall not apply to that 
portion of said river which lies between the city of Wilmington and a point 
on said river known as the Three Cypresses, twelve miles distant from said 
city of Wilmington. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2469. 

Sec. 127. Croatan Marshes, Weir, Hedge, IVet or Seine Prohibited, When. 

If any person, for the purpose of taking fish, shall, between the first day of 
February and the first day of May, of the same year, use or cause to be used, 
at or within half a mile of the marshes separating the waters of Croatan and 
Pamlico Sounds, any weir, hedge, net or seine, he shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2424. 

Sec. 128. Currituck Sound, Size of Ear and Mesh. That it shall be unlaw- 
ful for any person or persons, firm or corporation, to fish in the waters of 
Currituck Sound with a drag, haul, seine or any other kind of net of whatso- 
ever kind with a bar of less than one and three-eighths (1%) inches, or a 
mesh of less than two and three-quarters (2%) inches. That any person or 
persons, firm or corporation, violating any of the provisions of this act shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than fifty dollars or impris- 
oned more than thirty days, in the discretion of the court. 

1913, ch. 29. 

Sec. 129. Goose and Oyster Creeks; Drag Net and Haul Net Unlawful. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to fish with a drag or 
haul net of any description in the waters of Oyster Creek or its tributaries 
and Goose Creek or its tributaries (said creek being a dividing line between 



PISHING LAWS 41 

the counties of Pamlico and Beaufort). Any person or persons violating the 
provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be 
fined or imprisoned, or both, in the discretion of the court. 

1907, ch. 222; Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 381. 

Sec. 130. Little River, Obstruction in. If any person shall place any ob- 
struction in Little River, dividing the counties of Pasquotank and Perqui- 
mans, and allow it to remain for a longer time than ten days, he shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined not less than five dollars, nor more than 
ten dollars: Provided, nothing in this section shall be so construed as to 
prohibit citizens from fishing with dip nets in said river during the months 
of March and April in each year. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2443. 

Sec. 131. Lumber River; Closed Season for Trapping. That it shall be 
unlawful for any person to set any trap for the purpose of catching fish in 
Lumber River or its tributaries in Columbus and Robeson counties, between 
the first day of April and the first day of September in any year. 

Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars or 
imprisoned not more than thirty (30) days. 

1907, ch. 608. 

Sec. 132. Lumber River and Waters of Robeson, Columbus, Hoke and Scot- 
land Counties; Seines, Traps, (Jigging, Dynamite, etc., prohibited, Where; 
Closed Season for Gill ]Vets; Penalty; Arrest Without Warrant. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to fish with seine, 
trap, nets, or by gigging, muddying, striking, dynamiting, shooting, or 
using lime or other chemicals by which fish may be killed, in Lumber River 
or any of its tributaries, or other rivers, lakes, ponds, or swamps of Robe- 
son, Columbus, Hoke and Scotland counties: Provided, that gill nets may 
be set in the waters designated in this act, during six months in each year, 
beginning with October and ending with March. 

That any person, firm, or corporation violating this act shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dol- 
lars nor less than ten dollars; the fine to be paid to the school fund of the 
county in which the offense was committed, or imprisoned not more than 
thirty days nor less than ten days in the county jail, the county commis- 
sioners of said counties of Robeson, Columbus, Hoke and Scotland having 
the privilege of sending the said person or persons so convicted to the 
chain-gang of their respective counties or to hire them out in case there 
is no chain-gang. 

That the police force of said counties shall have full power and au- 
thority to arrest, without warrant, any and all persons violating the pro- 
visions of this act. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 358. 

Sec. 133. Lumber River, Fishing, When and How. It shall be unlawful for 
any person to use any seine, net or gig, or, by muddying the water or by 
shooting, to catch, take or kill fish in the Lumber River by any means except 
the ordinary rod, line and hook, from the first day of March to the first 
day of November in each and every year; and any person violating this 



42 NORTH CAROLINA 

section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall pay a fine of forty dol- 
lars, or be imprisoned not more than twenty days. 

Rev. 1905, eec. 2475. 

Sec. 134. jVeiise River, Obstructions in. Any person who shall construct 
a dam, put in traps, dutch net, wire seine, or anything else in Neuse River 
between its mouth and the Falls of Neuse in Wake County, for the purpose 
of obstructing the passage of fish in said river shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor and be fined not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned not exceeding 
thirty days: Provided, this section shall not apply to seines, set nets, run- 
ning or skimming nets: Provided, this section shall not prevent the use of 
traps in "Wayne County, where the trap and its wings do not extend more 
than one-third across the stream. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2474. 

Sec. 135. Neuse River, Dutch JTets, etc., in, Prohibited Where. If any 

person shall use or cause to be used any dutch net, pound net, or other sta- 
tionary trap, net, or seine of similar description by whatever name known, 
in the waters of Neuse River for the purpose of taking fish therefrom, except 
the ordinary set net in use in said river prior to the first day of January, 
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, he shall for each day's use 
thereof as aforesaid forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars. The penalties 
herein created shall be recovered by warrant before any justice of the peace 
in the county of Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico or Lenoir, and shall be ap- 
plied to the use of the public schools of said counties, and such offender 
in addition to the penalties contained in this section shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars, nor 
more than five hundred, or imprisoned in the county jail not less than six 
months nor more than twelve months: Provided, that a resident and 
citizen of the State may fish with dutch, trap or pound nets in the waters 
of Neuse River on the Pamlico side of said river between the mouth of said 
river and Upper Broad Creek not more than five hundred yards from the 
shore. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2453. 

Sec. 136. Neuse and Trent Rivers, Stationary, Set or Dutch Nets Pro- 
hibited, "Where, Penalty. That no person or association of persons shall 
set or place or cause to be set or placed any stationary, set or dutch nets 
in either Neuse or Trent rivers above the point where the said Neuse and 
Trent rivers confluctuate. 

That no person or association of persons or corporation shall set, cause 
to be set, fish or cause to be fished, use or cause to be used any dutch net, 
pound net or other stationary trap net or seine of similar description, by 
whatever name known, in the waters of Neuse River above Wilkinson's 
Point, on Pamlico side. 

That any person or association of persons setting or placing any nets as 
described in paragraph one of this act, on any day or part of a day, above 
the point where the said Neuse and Trent rivers confluctuate, shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor. 

That any person or association of persons or corporation setting or 
placing or causing to be set or placed any nets, as described in paragraph 
two of this act, on any day or part of a day, above Wilkinson's Point, in 
Neuse River, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 



FISHING LAWS 43 

That any person or association of persons or corporation violating the 
provisions of this act shall upon conviction be fined fifty dollars or im- 
prisoned thirty days for each and every violation of this act. 

Any party who is the informant against any one violating this act upon 
conviction of such person so violating, shall receive one-half of the fine 
prescribed. 

1909, ch. 801; Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 616. 

Sec. 137. Neuse and Trent Riyers, Bars and Meshes for Seines. If any 
persons shall use any drag net or seine with the bars of less size than one 
and a quarter inch in the Neuse and Trent rivers, or in any of the tributaries 
thereof, except for the purpose of catching herring, from the fifteenth day of 
January to the fifteenth day of May of each year, he shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and fined not less than five nor more than fifty dollars for 
every offense. This section shall not apply to the waters of the Neuse and 
its tributaries above the Wayne and Johnston County lines. 

Eev. 1905, sec. 2454. 

Sec. 138. Trent Eiver, Fishing', How, When, and Where. If any person 
shall set any trap, dutch, pound or pod net of any description whatever 
in Trent River, or shall at any time extend his set nets more than one-third 
the distance across the Trent River from either side, or shall set any net 
nearer to any other net than one hundred yards either on the same or on 
the opposite side of the river, or shall fish with seines or set nets of any 
description in Trent River from its mouth to upper Tucker bridge, be- 
tween the hours of twelve o'clock noon on Saturday and twelve o'clock noon 
on Monday of each week, or shall set or haul a net or seine of any descrip- 
tion between the town of Trenton and Brown's Mill on said river from the 
sixteenth day of May to the first day of August in each year, he shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than five dollars nor 
more than ten dollars or be imprisoned not less than ten nor more than 
thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2455. 

Sec. 139. Ohstructions in Certain Streams. No person shall place or 
allow to remain any dam for mill or factory purposes in the Chowan River' 
between Holliday's Island and the Virginia line; in the Meherrin River be- 
tween its mouth and the Virginia line ; in the Roanoke River from the mouth 
of the Cashie River to the Virginia line; in the Dan River from the crossing 
of the State line to a point nearest Danbury; in the Neuse River from 
New Bern to Neuse station in Wake County; in Contentnea Creek from its 
junction with the Neuse to the junction of Turkey and Moccasin creeks; in 
the Cape Fear River from Wilmington to the junction of Haw and Deep 
rivers and thence in Haw River to the line of Chatham and Alamance 
counties, and also in Deep River to the Randolph and Chatham line; in 
Rocky River from its mouth to the crossing of the Pittsboro and Asheboro 
Road; in the New Hope River from its mouth to the Orange County line; 
in Northeast Cape Fear River from Wilmington to South Washington; in 
Black River from its mouth to the junction of the Coharie; in the South 
River from its junction with the Black River to the crossing of the Fayette- 
ville and Warsaw Public Road; in Lumber River from the State line to the 
northern boundary of Robeson County; in the Yadkin River from the State. 



44 NORTH CAROLINA 

line to Patterson's factory; in Elk Creek, a tributary of the Yadkin River, 
from its mouth to Daniel Wheeler's in Watauga County; in Stony Fork 
Creek, a tributary of the Yadkin River, from its mouth to John Jones' old 
store; in Ararat River from its mouth to the bridge at Mount Airy; in 
North Fork of Catawba from its mouth to Turkey Cove; in Broad River 
from the State line to Reedy Patch Creek; in Groen River from its mouth 
to its junction with North Pacolet; in the Tennessee River from the State 
line to its junction with the Nantahala; in Pigeon River from the State 
line to the forks of Pigeon; in the French Broad River from the State line 
to Brevard and in the Swannanoa River; in Toe River from the State line to 
the confluence of the North and South fork of Toe; in New River from the 
State line to the point of divergence from the western boundary line of 
Alleghany County; in Little River in Johnston County from its junction 
with Neuse River in Wayne County to the Wake County line; in Cain River 
from the mouth of same to the mouth of Bowling Creek in Yancey County, 
also Old Fields of Toe on North Toe River in Mitchell County; John's 
River from its mouth to the forks of said river near Carrell Moore's in 
Caldwell County; Catawba River from the South Carolina line to the town of 
Old Fort in McDowell County, unless the owner thereof shall construct 
thereon at his own expense a sluice-way for the free passage of fish, of a 
width not less than three feet nor more than ten feet: Provided such sluice- 
way shall be constructed according to plans and specifications to be furnished 
by the Board of Agriculture, and shall not injure the water-power of 
such owner: Provided, further, in order to ascertain whether sluice ways 
will or will not injure the water-power aforesaid the owner of such dam 
may select two disinterested persons and the Board of Agriculture two 
others, who may select the fifth person to aid in the arbitration and settle- 
ment of such a complaint: Provided, further, this section shall not apply 
to Pigeon River in Haywood County: Provided, also, it shall be lawful for 
any person to remove any obstruction in the main channel of the Cape Fear 
River to the width of one hundred feet for the free passage of fish in the 
county of Harnett. This proviso, however, shall not apply to any dam or 
obstruction placed or kept upon said river by the Cape Fear Iron and 
Steel Company. 

■ Rev. 1905, sec. 2462; Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 758. 

Sec. 140. Sluice-Ways Kept Open, in said Streams. The sluice-ways 
referred to in the preceding section shall be so constructed and placed 
upon such dams by the owner thereof within sixty days after notice has 
been given by the board of agriculture, under a penalty of one hundred dol- 
lars per day for each day thereafter that such dam shall remain without 
such sluice-way, and shall be kept open by him during the months of 
February, March, April, May, June, October and November, and at all other 
times when there is sufficient water to supply both the water-power and 
the sluice-way, a fine of fifty dollars per day for each day said sluice-way 
shall be allowed to remain closed, and any person who shall fish with net, 
trap, hook and line, or who shall take in any way whatsoever any fish within 
two hundred feet of said sluice-way shall be subject to a fine of one dollar 
for each fish so taken, or a fine of fifty dollars for each offense, or imprison- 
ment for thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2463. 



FISHING LAWS 45 

Sec. 141. Obstruction in Said Streams Removed. No other obstruction 
to the passage of fish shall exist or be built between the designated points 
in the streams mentioned in the two preceding sections unless an opening 
of not less than twenty-five feet, and not more than seventy-five feet, em- 
bracing the main channel of said streams, shall be made by the owner of 
such obstructions within twenty days after notice from the board of agri- 
culture to make such opening under penalty of fifty dollars per day for 
each day such obstruction shall remain unopened. Said notice shall be 
served by the sheriff of the county, and his return shall be prima facie evi- 
dence of notice in any suit for such penalty. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2464. 

Sec. 142. Pamlico, Tar and JJeuse Rivers, Pamlico Sound and Carteret 
County; Tarred Nets, Size. That there shall be no pound or other tarred 
nets with a mesh smaller than one and one-half inches bar, before tarring, 
fished in Pamlico, Tar, and Neuse rivers, Pamlico Sound and the waters of 
Carteret County, and there shall be no pound or stake nets fished within 
three miles of the inside mouths of Ocracoke Inlet nor in the principal 
channel or channels of said inlet nor within one mile of said channel or 
channels until the said channel or channels reach deep water, at any time, 
and the other inlets north of it shall be left under the Vann bill, chapter 
two hundred and ninety-two. Laws of one thousand nine hundred and five. 
(Now sec. 143 of this codification.) 

No stake or pound net which shall be fished in any of the waters men- 
tioned in this act, without being tarred, shall have a mesh of less than 
one and three-eighths inches bar. 

That the bunt of all seines and haul nets fished in the waters of 
Pamlico, Tar and Neuse Rivers and Pamlico Sound shall not be smaller 
than one and one-eighth inches bar net: Provided, this bunt shall not be 
longer than thirty yards: Provided, that nothing herein shall apply to nets 
fishing for menhaden. 

Any person violating any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars and 
imprisoned at the discretion of the court: Provided, that this chapter 
shall only apply to that part of the year beginning January fifteenth and 
ending May fifteenth. 

1907, ch. 948; 1909, ch. 540, sec. 4. 

Sec. 143. Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, Dutch and Pound Nets, etc., 
in, Where and When; Duties of Commissioner on Complaint; Liability on 
Bond. If any person shall set or fish any net, seine, or appliance of any 
kind for catching fish at any place within a radius of two and one-half 
miles either way from Roanoke Marshes lighthouse, at a distance more 
than five hundred yards from the shore of Roanoke Island or the mainland 
on the western side of Croatan and Pamlico sounds, except that on the 
western side of Pamlico and Croatan sounds fishing shall be permitted in 
that territory extending one thousand yards from the shore, beginning at 
the two and one-half mile limit heretofore defined and extending to the 
southern end of the Roanoke Marshes, on the Pamlico Sound side, and to 
the north end of the same marshes on the Croatan side, but in neither case 
shall the nets within this one thousand-yard limit be within one and one- 
quarter miles in any direction from the Roanoke Marshes lighthouse; or 



46 NORTH CAROLINA 

shall set or fish any pound or dutch net on the eastern side of Pamlico 
Sound within ten miles of the Roanoke Marshes lighthouse, except such as 
shall be hshed within one thousand yards of Roanoke Island or Hog Island 
shores; or shall set or fish any dutch or pound net on the eastern side of 
Pamlico Sound more than two thousand yards west of a line running south- 
southeast (magnetic) from Big Island to a point on the twelve-foot curve 
westerly of Chicamacomico or south of said point more than two thousand 
yards from the twelve-foot curve, as marked on the chart of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey, corrected from data obtained to November twenty-second 
one thousand nine hundred and four; or shall set or fish any dutch or 
pound net on the west side of Pamlico Sound, in said sound, extending 
into the water more than two thousand yards from the" shore; or shall set 
or fish any pound or dutch net in Croatan Sound further from the shore 
than one-fifth of the width of said sound at that point; or shall set or fish 
any net, seine or appliance of any kind for catching fish at any place 
within the area of one-sixth the width of the sound or river on either side 
of a line passing through the middle of the channel of Croatan Sound and 
the middle of Albemarle Sound, up Chowan River as far as Cannon's ferry, 
and other tributaries of Albemarle Sound: (Provided, this clause does 
not apply to seines used on the rivers) ; or shall set or fish any pound or 
dutch net in the Albemarle Sound more than two thousand yards from 
the shore of the mainland, or in the Chowan River further from the shore 
than one-third of the width of said river, at the place where said nets are 
fished or set, or within one-fourth mile of any wharf used by a steamer 
on said river; or shall set or fish any net or appliance of any kind for 
catching fish within one mile on either side of a line running westerly or 
southwesterly from the center of New Inlet to an intersection with the 
line extending from Big Island southwest (magnetic), or within one mile 
on either side of a line running westerly or southwesterly from the center 
of Oregon Inlet to a point two thousand yards west of the continuation of 
the said line running from Big Island south-southeast (magnetic), or 
within one mile on either side of a line six miles long running from the 
center of Hatteras Inlet in a northwesterly direction, these restricted areas 
to include the channels extending from Orgon, New and Hatteras inlets, 
respectively, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not less than 
fifty dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days, in the discretion of 
the court. The provisions of this section shall apply only to that part of 
each year in which shad and herring fishing are permitted by law in the 
several waters, except that in Albemarle and Croatan sounds the provisions 
of this section shall apply for the entire year, as far as it relates to pound 
nets. The fish commissioner is authorized, in determining the boundaries of 
the restricted areas on either side of Roanoke Marshes, to run straight 
lines from the stake two thousand yards from the shore in the two and one- 
half mile radius from Roanoke Marshes lighthouse to the stake five hundred 
yards eastward from the point of Roanoke Marshes, and shall run straight 
lines from the stake one-fifth the width of Croatan Sound in the two and 
one-half mile radius from Roanoke Marshes lighthouse south to the stake 
five hundred yards from the eastward point of Roanoke Marshes; that the 
boundary lines marking the restricted areas in these sounds shall be run 
in straight lines from stake to stake, located at certain points, but said 
stakes not to be in any case more than three miles apart. The places of 
trial for offenses under this section shall be the county opposite where 
the act was committed. . 



FISHING LAWS 47 

It shall be the duty of the Fish Commissioner, or any of his assistants or 
deputies, whenever a complaint is made to him, either orally or in writing, 
stating that any of the laws relating to lish or tisheries are being vio- 
lated at any particular place, to go himself or send a deputy to such place 
and investigate same, and he shall seize and remove all nets or other ap- 
pliances set or being used in violation of the fisheries laws of the State, 
sell same at public auction after advertisement for twenty days at the 
courthouse and three other public places in the county in which the seizure 
was made, and apply the proceeds of sale to the payment of costs and 
expenses of such removal, and pay any balance remaining, to the school 
fund of county nearest to where offense is committed. And the failure of 
the Fish Commissioner or his deputies to perform the above prescribed duty 
shall render his bond liable to penalty for five hundred dollars ($500), 
one-half to go to the informant and the other half to be paid to the school 
fund of the county in which the action is brought. 

1909, ch. 540, sec. 3; 1911, ch. 18. 

Sec. 144. Pamlico River, Dutch Nets, etc^ in. Where and When. ^It shall 
be lawful to fish with dutch, pod, pyke or other pound nets, or nets of like 
kind, in the waters of Pamlico River below a line beginning on the southern 
shore of Pamlico River at Maule's point, and running due north to a point 
on the northern shore of said river: Provided, that no dutch, pod, pyke or 
pound net, or other net of like kind, shall extend out in said river more than 
one-eighth of the distance across said river from the shore, and that none of 
said dutch, pod, pyke or pound nets shall be set, placed down or fished nearer 
to each other than five hundred yards, measuring up and down the river; 
nor shall they be placed, set down or fished within five hundred yards of 
any seine beach in actual use for hauling a seine, nor within one mile of 
the mouth of Bath Creek: Provided, no nets of the kind enumerated in 
this section, or other nets of like kind, shall be placed down, set or fished 
in said rivers between the tenth day of May and the first day of July in any 
year. That any person violating the provisions of this section shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor 
more than one hundred dollars, in the discretion of the court. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2429; 1909, ch. 540, sec. 1. 

Sec. 145. Pamlico Sound, Neuse River, Smith Creek; Dutch, Pound, Pond 
Nets, When, Where and How. That it shall be unlawful for any person or 
association of persons or corporation to set or cause to be set, fish, or 
cause to be fished in Pamlico Sound from the mouth of Bay River to Neuse 
River and in Neuse River, more than four pound, pond, or dutch nets in 
any one string, with leads of more than two hundred yards in length for 
each pound or net, or at a greater distance than one and one-half miles 
from the shore at right angles or thereabout from the place opposite where 
such net may be set; and it shall be unlawful for any person, association of 
persons, or corporation to set or cause to be set any pound, pond, or dutch 
net or string of nets of any Ttind, or shall fish any such nets nearer to a net 
or string of such nets already set and being fished than five hundred yards, 
and no pound, pond, or dutch net nor any lead thereto shall be set other than 
at right angles or thereabouts from the short. It shall be unlawful for 
any person or persons, firm or corporation to use, set, or fish any drag or 
haul net in the waters of Smith's Creek or its tributaries in Pamlico 
County. 



48 NORTH CAROLINA 

That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons or corporations to 
set or fish or cause to be set or fished any pound, pond, or dutch net in the 
waters of Pamlico County on the south and east side thereof or in Neuse 
River, of a size smaller than one and one-quarter mesh or bar measure or 
two and one-half inches string measure. 

That any person or persons or corporation who shall set or fish or cause 
to be set or fished any pound, pond, or dutch net at a greater distance 
than one and one-half miles from the shore, or shall set more than four 
such nets in one string, or shall set or fish any such nets nearer than five 
hundred yards to a string of such nets already set, or shall set such nets 
otherwise than at right angles or thereabouts from the shore, or shall set 
or fish any drag or haul net in the waters of Smith Creek or its tributaries 
in Pamlico County, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not 
exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days, in the dis- 
cretion of the court, and shall also forfeit such net or nets any portion of 
which may be set beyond such distance from the shore or set in any 
manner or place forbidden in this act. 

It shall be the duty of the Sheriff of Pamlico County, upon reliable infor- 
mation that any person or persons or corporation has set or caused to be 
set any pound or dutch net, or that any portion of any such net has been 
set at a greater distance than one and one-half miles from the shore 
from the mouth of Bay River to Neuse River and from Neuse River to 
Bairds Creek, or nearer than five hundred yards to any nets already set, 
to ascertain the truth thereof, and if such report be correct, take into 
possession at once any such net so set, and after ten days public notice 
at three public places in his county sell the same at public sale, and 
from the proceeds he shall retain the actual cost of taking such net, and a 
fee for services of two and one-half dollars and the remainder of said 
proceeds he shall pay one-half to the informer and the other to be paid to 
the county treasurer, who shall place the same to the credit of the public 
school fund of Pamlico County. 

That it shall be lawful for any person or persons to set pound, pond, or 
dutch nets in the manner prescribed in this act in the waters of Pamlico 
County and in Neuse River upon the north side thereof from its mouth to 
Bairds Creek, at any time during the year, and from the northern end of 
outer Swan Island to Adams Creek on the south side of Neuse River, from 
the first day of January to the first day of May. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1913, ch. 752, sec. 5, (a), (b), (c), (d), (e). 

Sec. 146. Pamlico Sound, Direction of Nets in. Every net (unless the 
same be a drag net and hauled to the shore), which may be used for 
catching shad in that portion of the waters of Pamlico Sound, lying be- 
tween a line drawn eastwardly from Stumpy Point and Mount Pleasant in 
Hyde County to a point ten miles south of Hatteras inlet in said sound, shall 
be set and fixed in said waters, in a direction from north to south, and 
shall not be used in any other manner; and any person offending against 
this section shall, for every offense, forfeit five dollars. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2433. 

Sec. 147. Pamlico and Tar Rivers, Lay Days. If any person from the 
fifteenth day of February to the tenth day of May of every year, from twelve 
o'clock meridian of Saturday until sunrise Monday morning of each week, 



FISHING LAWS 49 

shall fish any seine, set net, drift net, or any other net of any name or 
kind whatever, in the waters of Pamlico or Tar rivers and tributaries, except 
bow or skim nets, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2427. 

Sec. 148. Pamlico and Tar Rivers, Dutch JVets, etc., In. If any person 
shall set down or fish any dutch, pod, pyke or pound net or net of any 
kind in the waters of Pamlico or Tar rivers or their tributaries except 
in the manner, and in the part, and during the time, which such nets are by 
law allowed to be fished, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be 
fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, and 
shall be imprisoned in the county jail not less than thirty and not more 
than sixty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2428. 

Sec. 149. Perquimans River, Nets in. if any person shall fish with any 
seine, or set any dutch net or hedge within one mile of a straight line com- 
mencing at Stephenson's point on the north side of Perquimans River and 
running in a southwesterly direction to the nearest point of land on the 
south side of said river known as Belgrade bluff, or shall haul any seine or 
set any dutch net or other kind of net so as to extend beyond the middle 
of said river at any part thereof, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2441. 

Sec. 150. Roanoke Sound, Nets Prohibited, Where and When. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person or persons to set any pound nets or any 
other kind of nets east of a line beginning at a point one thousand yards 
east of Broad Creek Point; thence following the east shore of Roanoke 
Island to Ballast Point; or set or fish any pound or dutch nets or any 
other kind of net in that portion of Roanoke Sound north of a line extending 
from Ballast Point east ten degrees north further from the shore than one- 
fifth of the width of said sound: Provided, that this section shall not pre- 
vent the setting of pound nets inside of Shallow Bag Bay; and Provided, 
further, that the provisions of this section shall apply only to that part of 
each year in which shad and herring fishing is permitted by law in the 
several waters. 

That any person or persons violating any of the provisions as set forth in 
this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be 
fined or imprisoned at the discretion of the court. 

1911, ch. 26. 

Sec. 151. Scuppernong River; Pound and Dutch Nets in. That it shall 
be unlawful for any person to fish any pound or dutch net within fifty yards 
of the Norfolk and Southern Railroad bridge across Scuppernong River. 

That any person violating this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and 
punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars nor less than 
twenty-five dollars, in the discretion of the court. 

Spec. Ses. 1908, cb. 82; 1909, ch. 119. 

Sec. 152. Scuppernong River, Nets in. If any person shall set any kind 
of a fish weir or pod net, gill net or net of any kind in Scuppernong River 
using more than one-half of the channel of said river, or within one hun- 
dred yards of the public bridges at Columbia and the Cross landing, cross- 
ing said river, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined a sum not 



50 NORTH CAROLINA 

to exceed fifty dollars, or imprisoned not to exceed thirty days: Provided, 
this section shall not apply to the hauling of seines. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2445. 

Sec. 153. Sciippernong and Lake Phelps, PreTcnts Fishing Certain Nets 

in. That it shall be unlawful for any person, lirm, or corporation to set 
or in any manner fish with more than one hundred yards of gill nets within 
the waters of Lake Phelps or Scuppernong in Tyrrell and Washington 
counties, or to set or in any manner fish with more than one pound, pond, or 
dutch net, and shall be restricted to the months of February, March, and 
April of each year. 

That any person, lirm or corporation violating this act shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be lined not more than 
fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

1909, ch. 378; 1911, ch. 129. 

Sec. 154. Beaufort, Carteret. Dare, Hyde, and Pamlico, Size of Fish Eegu- 
lated. That it shall be unlawful for any person to buy, sell, offer for sale, 
or to have in his possession any blue-fish, trout or drum under eight 
inches in length, or any mullet under six inches in length, or any croakers, 
spots and hogfish under five inches in length, or sea mullet, flounders, mack- 
erel and hickory shad less than eight inches long or butterfish and steerfish 
less than four and one-half inches long, at any time during the year. 

That any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this act shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction be fined not less than ten 
dollars nor more than fifty dollars. 

That this act shall only apply to the counties of Carteret, Pamlico, Beau- 
fort, Hyde, and Dare. 

1909, ch. 474, sees. 3, 4; 1909, ch. 906, sec. 2. 

Sec. 155. Brunswick, New Hanoyer and Pender, Cape Fear Rirer and 
Black River, Seines, Nets and Traps, When, How. If any person shall use 
in any of the waters of Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties any 
nets, seines, set-downs, fish traps or any other nets of any description for 
the purpose of taking fish, the bars of the meshes of which nets, seines, set- 
downs, or fish traps shall be less than one and one-eighth inches in length; 
or shall with seines or nets of any kind, catch any fish in the waters of the 
Cape Fear River from its mouth to the Bladen County line, or in the waters 
of the Northeast Cape Fear or Black rivers in Pender County between six 
o'clock p. m. on Saturday and six o'clock p. m. on Monday, or shall obstruct 
the free passage of fish in the waters of said rivers, he shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2470; 1907, ch. 811. 

Sec. 156. Brunswick, Cumberland, New Hanover, Sampson, and Harnett; 
Certain Streams in. If any person shall catch or destroy with seines, nets, 
firearms, bows and arrows, or by muddying or stirring the waters, or by 
striking any fish of any kind in the waters of Black or South rivers, or the 
waters of Big Coharie, Little Coharie, Bear Skin and Big Swamps in the 
counties of New Hanover, Sampson, Cumberland and Harnett, and of the 
waters of Six Runs in the counties of New Hanover and Sampson, and of 
the waters of the Cape Fear River in the counties of New Hanover and 
Brunswick, and of the northeast branch of the Cape Fear River in the county 



FISHING LAWS 51 

of New Hanover between the fifteenth days of May and August of each year, 
he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined not to exceed five dollars. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2472. 

Sec. 157. New Hanover, Onslow and Pender, Turse Nets and Seines for 
Food Fish Prohibited. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or 
corporation to catch any food fish in a purse seine#Dr purse net in any 
waters within the limits of Pender, Onslow, and New Hanover counties, ex- 
tending to the extreme limits of the State's jurisdiction in and over such 
waters, making the boundaries of said counties to which said waters shall 
extend to be the distance of three nautical miles, measured from the outer 
beach or shores of said counties out into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. 

That any waters within a distance of three miles of any beach or shore 
of said counties shall be deemed the waters of said counties for the purpose 
of this act. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to pur- 
chase, buy, or trade for, or deal in, or sell any food fish caught as is set 
forth in section one of this act. 

That any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this act 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than 
three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), or 
imprisoned, in the discretion of the court. 

That any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association who shall 
knowingly rent, lease, or permit to be used any purse seine or purse net, 
rent or lease any vessel, boat or steamer upon which is used a purse seine 
or purse net in the catching of food fish in the waters of said counties 
shall be guilty, as a principal, of a misdemeanor. 

Any person who shall furnish information upon which any person, 
firm or corporation shall be convicted of a violation of any of the pro- 
visions of this act shall be entitled to one-half of the fine imposed therefor. 

Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 717. 

3. Local Laws (Commercial Fisliing). 

a. Counties. 

Beaufort, (See, also, sees. 129, 154.) 

Sec. 158. Bath, Blount, Jordan, Pungo and Wright Creeks, Certain Nets 
Prohibited in. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to use 
or fish with any drag nets, purse nets, drop nets, fyke nets, thrash nets or 
any set or gill nets longer than thirty yards on top line, in the waters of 
Bath Creek,.Blount's Creek, .Jordan's Creek, Pungo Creek, Wright's Creek or 
their tributaries, in Beaufort County, during the months of March, April, 
May, June and July of each and every year. 

That any person or persons violating the provisions of this act shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction fined not exceeding fifty dol- 
lars or imprisoned not more than thirty days for each offense. 

1909, ch. 586. 

Sec. 159. Bath Creek, Fishing by Residents Permitted. That it shall not 
be unlawful for any person or persons who are resident citizens of Beaufort 
County to fish with any kind of nets, except pound nets, or purse nets, in 
the waters of Bath Creek from Bath Creek bridge to the mouth of said creek. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1911, ch. 547. 



52 NORTH CAROLINA 

Sec. 160. Blount's Creek, Prohibits Fishing Certain Nets. That it shall 
be unlawful for any person or persons to use or fish with any drag net or 
slash net in the waters of Blount's Creek or its tributaries. 

That any person or persons violating the provisions of this act shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding 
fifty dollars, or imprisoned not more than thirty days for each offense. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1911, %. 120. 

Sec. 161. Durham and Lee's Creeks, Certain Nets Forbidden. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person to catch fish with seines, drag nets, thrash 
nets or hauling nets of any description in the waters of Durham Creek, 
Lee's Creek, or their tributaries in Beaufort County. 

That any person violating this act shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and on conviction shall be fined not less than five nor more than ten 
dollars for each and every offense. 

1907, ch. 439. 

Sec. 162. Nixon's Creek, Prag, Purse or Pound Nets Prohibited. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person or persons to use or fish with any drag 
nets, purse nets or pound nets in the waters of Nixon's Creek in the county 
of Beaufort. 

That any person or persons violating the provisions of this act shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction fined not exceeding thirty 
dollars or imprisoned not more than twenty days for each offense. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 525. 

Sec. 163. North Creek, Drag, Purse and Fike Nets, Unlawful in. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person or persons to use or fish with any drag- 
nets, purse-nets, drop-nets or fike nets in the waters of North Creek and its 
tributaries in Beaufort County. 

That any person or persons violating the provisions of this act shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned 
not more than thirty days for each offense. 

1907, ch. 629. 

Bertie. (See sec. 117.) 

Bladen. (See, also, sees. 119, 121.) 

Sec. 164. Brown Marsli and Horse Shoe Swamp, Manner of Fishing. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person to fish with a seine or by mud- 
dying the water or by means of any lime, dynamite, or any other such 
material or substance in Brown Marsh and Horseshoe swamps in Bladen 
County. 

Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars or 
imprisoned for thirty days. 

That this act shall apply only to Brown Marsh Township in Bladen 

County. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1915, ch. 187. 

Sec. 165. White Lake; Hook and Line Only Allowed. That it shall be 
unlawful to catch, kill, or destroy fish in White Lake in Bladen County by 
means of nets, traps, by gigging, by shooting or by any other means or 
methods, except by hook and line: Provided, that set hooks, bobs, and 
trolls shall be construed as being hooks and lines. 



FISHING LAWS 53 

That any person violating the provision of this act shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and fined not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned not ex- 
ceeding thirty days. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1913, ch. 295. 

Brunswick. (See, also, sees. 110, 125, 155, 156.) 
Sec. 166. Mullet Fishing, Purse Nets Prohibited; Offal Discharged. If 

any person, firm or corporation shall fish for and catch any mullets with 
any purse seine or purse net in the waters within the limits of Brunswick 
County, extending to the extreme limits of the State's jurisdiction in and 
over said waters; and for the purpose of this section, any portion of any 
water within a distance of three nautical miles from the outer shores of 
said county shall be deemed the waters of said county. Or if the master 
or any employee or any steamboats engaged in fishing for menhaden or 
fatbacks shall discharge from said boat fish offal, blood or slime within a 
distance of one-half of a mile of any established mullet fishery on the 
Brunswick County coast between the first of August and the thirty-first of 
December of each year, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con- 
viction shall be fined or imprisoned at the discretion of the court. For the 
purposes of this section an established fishery is declared to be that point 
on the beach occupied by the surfboat and seine in regular use. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2481. 

Sec. 167. Jfon-residents Must Have License. That it shall not be lawful 
for any non-resident of this State to engage in the business of gathering 
oysters, clams and terrapins for gain, or for market, within the limits of 
Brunswick County without first obtaining from the County Commissioners 
of said county a license to carry on such business, which license may be 
granted by the County Commissioners of said county upon paying to the 
Treasurer of said county, to be used for county purposes, the sum of fifty 
dollars ($50) for each non-resident engaged in such business, and twenty- 
five dollars ($25) for each non-resident hand employed: Provided, that 
such license so granted shall be for one year and shall expire on the first 
day of October of each year. 

That any person or persons violating the provisions of this act shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor. 

1907, ch. 68. 

Carteret. (See, also, sees. 135, 142, 154.) 

Sec. 168. Cedar Island Township; Hauling Xets With Power. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person or persons, firm or corporation to pull any 
haul-net within the waters of Cedar Island Township, Carteret County, with 
steam, gasoline or any other motor power. 

That any person or persons, firm or corporation violating the provisions 
of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined or imprisoned, or 
both, in the discretion of the court. 

1915, ch. 281. 

Sec. 169. Hutch Nets, etc., Use Prohibited: Proviso. If any person shall 
use or cause to be used any dutch net, pond net or other stationary trap, 
net or seine of similar description by whatever name known, in the waters 
of Carteret County for the purpose of taking fish therefrom, he shall for 
each day's use thereof forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars. The penal- 



54 NORTH CAROLINA 

ties herein created shall be recovered by a warrant before any justice of the 
peace in the county of Carteret, and shall be applied to the use of the 
public schools of said county; and such offender, in addition to the penal- 
ties contained in this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined 
not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or 
imprisoned in the county jail not less than six months nor more than twelve 
months: Provided, this section shall not apply to the ordinary set nets 
heretofore in use in the waters of said county. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2435. 

Sec. 170. Mullet, Size of Mesh. If any person shall catch mullet in the 
waters of Carteret County with a seine or net having a mesh of less than 
one and one-eighth inch, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not 
more than $50 and imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2434. 

Sec. 171. Nets, Length, etc., Regulated; Joining Together. That it shall 
be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or syndicate to fish any net 
or seine in the waters of the State of North Carolina within the boundaries 
of Carteret County more than two hundred and seventy-five yards in length: 
Provided, this length shall not apply to purse seines used for the purpose of 
catching menhaden (fatbacks) only. Any person, firm, corporation, or 
syndicate violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars or be imprisoned not 
more than thirty days, in the discretion of the court. Each day said nets 
or seines are fished shall constitute a separate offense under this act. 

That when a condition arises that a crew of fishermen find it advantage- 
ous to join two or three nets together for the purpose of temporary fishing, 
it shall be lawful under this act to do so under the following rules and 
regulations, namely: (Provided, such nets when joined together shall not be 
fished in the bite of Cape Lookout) : 

(a) The total length of nets joined together shall not exceed eight hun- 
dred and twenty-five yards. 

(b) That not more than one of the nets (two hundred and seventy-five 
yards) shall be owned by any one person, firm, corporation, or syndicate 
thus fishing. 

(c) That not less than two men shall be permitted to fish with each net 
thus joined together. 

(d) That no position or haul shall be held by anchoring boat (except when 
occupied by men fishing same), buoys,, stakes, or any other device. 

(e) That no seines or nets shall be hauled by capstans. 

(f) That no nets of smaller mesh than 1% inch bar or 2^^ inch stretched 
measure shall be joined together for the purpose of fishing under this 
section. 

(g) That no nets thus joined shall be fished in the waters of the State of 
North Carolina within the boundaries of Carteret County at any stationary 
fishery. 

(h) That the fishing of such nets thus joined together shall not be per- 
mitted in the waters of Carteret County where said waters are of less 
width than one and one-fourth miles. 

It is expressly enacted that each net joined together under paragraph 
two of this act shall have two staffs. 



FISHING LAWS 55 

Any person violating any of the provisions of paragraph two and sub- 
divisions (a) to (h), inclusive, of this act shall he guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and upon conviction shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars or im- 
prisoned not less than six months. 

1911, ch. 130. 

Sec. 172. Obstruction to Fish Prohibited. If any person shall obstruct 
any navigable water or passageway for fish in Carteret County by placing 
bushes, posts or any stationary material or fixtures in such a manner as to 
prevent the free passage of fish, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and 
fined not less than one hundred dollars. Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to prohibit any person from using a lawful net or seine in any 
way or manner except as a stop net or seine. This section shall not apply 
to any net that the fish can pass freely by one end. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2436. 

Sec. 173. Pound Nets, Wlien and Where in N'euse River. That it shall be 
lawful to fish pound nets from January first to May fifteenth of each year 
within the waters of that portion of Carteret County, with a line beginning 
at the northwest point of outward Swan Island, running a due north course; 
from such line running up the Neuse River to the spar buoy at the en- 
trance of Adams Creek: Provided, that not more than five nets shall be 
set in any one stand: Provided, further, that not more than one-fourth of 
the river in width shall be used for the purpose of fishing under this act. 

Any person, firm, corporation, or syndicate fishing with pound nets in 
the waters of Carteret County at any other time except as prescribed in 
this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be 
fined not less than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than six 
months, in the discretion of the court. It is expressly enacted that every 
day such fishing is done in violation of this act shall constitute a separate 
offense. 

1911, ch. 128; 1915, ch. 180. 

Sec. 174. Purse Nets for Mullet Prohibited. If any person shall fish for 
or catch any mullets with any purse seine or purse net in any waters 
within the limits of Carteret County, extending to the extreme limits of the 
State's jurisdiction in and over such waters, he shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor and be fined not less than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not 
less than one year. For the purpose of this section the following boundaries 
are hereby declared to be the boundaries to which the waters of said county 
extend, to wit: A distance of three nautical miles, measured from the outer 
beach or shores of Carteret County out and into the waters of the Atlantic 
Ocean; and any portions of any water within a distance of three miles from 
said waters of the Atlantic Ocean to any beach or shore of said county, 
shall be deemed the waters of said county for the purposes of this section. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2437. 

Carteret and Onslow. 

Sec. 175. Purse Nets Prohibited for Food Fish. That it shall be unlawful 
for any person, firm or corporation to catch any food-fish in a purse-seine 
or purse-net in any waters within the limits of Carteret and Onslow coun- 
ties extending to the extreme limits of the State's jurisdiction in and over- 



66 NORTH CAROLINA 

such waters, making the boundaries of said counties to which said waters 
shall extend to be the distance of three nautical miles, measured from the 
outer beach or shores of Carteret and Onslow counties out into the waters 
of the Atlantic Ocean. 

That any waters within a distance of three miles of any beach or shore 
of said counties shall be deemed the waters of said counties for the purposes 
of this act. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to purchase, 
buy, or trade for, or deal in, or sell any food-fish caught as is set forth 
in the manner prohibited by this act. 

That any person, firm or corporation violating any provisions of this 
act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less 
than three hundred dollars (?300) nor more than five hundred dollars 
($500), or imprisoned, in the discretion of the Court. 

Any person who shall furnish information upon which any person, firm 
or corporation shall be convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of 
this act shall be entitled to one-half of the fine imposed therefor. 

1907, ch. 857; 1911, ch. 126; 1911, ch. 204. 

Chatham. 

Sec. 176. Haw River, Fish Ways Erected, When. All persons maintain- 
ing dams across Haw River in the county of Chatham shall, upon thirty 
days' notice from the board of commissioners of said county, establish 
fishways in said dams; and if said fishways shall not be made within three 
months from the service of the notice, said persons so offending shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined at the discretion of the court. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2476. 

Columbus. (See, also, sees. 131, 132.) 
Sec. 177. Lumber River; Seines and Nets, Traps, Explosives; Gill Nets. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to fish with 
seine, traps, gigging, striking, or dynamiting, by shooting with gun or rifle 
in Lumber River or its tributaries in Columbus County: Provided, that this 
section shall not apply to any person fishing on own lands or those who 
may have written consent of owner of the land where fishing. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to fish with 
gill net in Lumber River or its tributaries in Columbus County, except dur- 
ing the months of October, November, December, January and February. 

That any person violating this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
upon conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars nor less than ten 
dollars, one-half to go to the informant, or imprisoned not more than thirty 
days nor less than ten days, in jail, with authority to county commissioners 
of Columbus County to hire out such convict. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1913, ch. 740. 

Sec. 178. Porter Swamp, Traps and Nets Prohibited. That it shall be 
unlawful for any person or persons to set any fish traps or nets in the 
waters of Porter Swamp in Columbus County in such a manner as to pre- 
vent the free passage of fish. 

Any person or persons violating the provisions of this act shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor 
more than twenty-five dollars, or imprisoned not less than ten nor more 
than thirty days for each offense. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1911, ch. 748. 



FISHING LAWS 57 

Crayen. (See sec. 135.) 
Cumberland. (See sees. 120, 121, 156.) 

Currituck. (See, also, sec. 128.) 

Sec. 179. Atlantic Township, Fishing Kegulated. That it shall be unlaw- 
ful for any person or persons to catch fish with seine or set net, or nets of 
any kind, in the waters of Atlantic Township, between the fifteenth day of 
April and the twentieth day of October in each year, within the following 
boundaries in said township: Beginning at a cedar stump standing on the 
beach north of Caffie's Inlet Life-saving Station and extending a west course 
five hundred yards from the shore; thence paralleling the shore a southerly 
course to the Dare County line. 

That it shall be unlawful to set any pound or dutch nets in the waters of 
said township: Provided, that nothing in this act shall prevent the catch- 
ing or selling of twenty-five pounds of fish on any one day for home con- 
sumption. 

That nothing in this act shall prevent the catching of eels, mullets and 
herrings at any time during each year; and Provided, that nothing in this 
act shall prohibit fishing at night. 

That any person violating the provisions of this act or any part thereof 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for each and every offense, and upon con- 
viction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars nor less than twenty dol- 
lars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

1909, ch. 619. 

Sec. 180. Dutch Nets, etc., in Currituck Sound, When, Where, and How. 

If any firm, company or corporation shall operate or cause to be operated 
in the waters of Currituck County, or to be interested in (in any manner 
whatsoever) more than six-pound or dutch nets, or use more than one 
hundred yards of hedging to a net, or set a stand of such nets exceeding 
eight hundred yards in length from land to the extreme outward end; or if 
any person shall set any pound or dutch nets to the east of the center of 
Currituck Sound, except that part from the west point of Mackey's Island 
north of the Virginia line; or if any person shall leave any landing or 
anchorage before sunrise for the purpose of fishing in Currituck Sound or 
tributaries, or shall continue to fish after dark, he shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor and be fined not less than twenty-five, nor more than fifty dollars. 
This section shall not prohibit fishing after dark in that part of said sound 
west of a line beginning at the north point of Bell's Island, 'thence north 
not more than one thousand yards from the main land to the mouth or en- 
trance of Tull's Creek, nor night fishing between the thirty-first day of 
March and the twentieth day of October five hundred yards from the shore 
from Martin's Point to Kitty Hawk Bay. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2430. 

Sec. 181. Catching and Selling Fish, When, if any person shall catch 
or capture any fish with nets or other appliances in the waters of Curri- 
tuck County between the fifteenth day of April and the twentieth day of 
October of each year, or shall sell or ship out of the county or State any 
fresh fish between said dates; or if any person shall be found with more 
than twenty-five pounds of fresh water fish in his possession between the 
thirty-first day of March and the twentieth day of October of each year, 
herrings, mullets, shad and eels excepted; or if any person shall in said" 



58 NORTH CAROLINA 

county catch eels for market between the thirtieth day of April and the 
twentieth day of September following in each year, he shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor and be fined not more than fifty dollars and not less than 
twenty-five dollars. Any citizen may catch, not to exceed twenty-five 
pounds, at any time for home consumption, and sell or give not more than 
ten pounds to any one person in one day. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2431; 1907, ch. 520. 

Sec. 182. Right of Search. If any constable, game warden, or justice of 
the peace of Currituck County shall be informed, or have cause to suspect, 
that either of the two preceding sections are being violated, he is hereby 
authorized and empowered to examine the contents of any fishing boat, or 
packages in transit, and any person or common carrier refusing to exhibit 
the contents of any fishing boat or package to such officer shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than twenty-five and not more 
than fifty dollars. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2432. 

Dare. (See, also, sees. 108, 110, 154.) 

Sec. 183. Dutch and Pound Jets Prohibited, TVhere. That it shall be 
unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to set any dutch or pound 
net within the space or area of water bounded and described as follows: 
Beginning at Hollowell's Wharf, at Nag's Head, and running thence a due 
west course to the channel in Roanoke Sound; thence northwest to the 
Currituck County line; thence with said Currituck County line to the shore. 

That any person violating this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and 
upon conviction shall be fined fifty dollars or imprisoned thirty days in the 
discretion of the court. 

1913, ch. 113. 

Greene. 

Sec. 184. Mesh, Size, Lands of Another. That it shall be unlawful for 
any person or persons to fish with or set any nets with less meshes than 
one and one-fourth inches square. 

That no person or persons shall fish with nets of any kind on another 
person's land without first getting permission from the owner of the lands 
to do so, except in navigable streams as rivers or large creeks. 

Any persoi\ or persons violating this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor 
and upon conviction thereof shall pay a fine of not less than five dollars 
nor more than twenty dollars for each offense. 

This act applies to Green County only. 

Pub. Log. Lavi^s 1915, ch. 494. 

Harnett. (See sec. 156.) 

Hertford and Northampton. 

Sec. 185. Potecasi Creek, Fish Protected in. That it shall be unlawful 
for any person or persons to use, set or in any manner to fish with any 
fish trap, pike net, seine or drag net in the waters of Potecasi Creek, in 
Hertford and Northam.pton counties, from its mouth to the Creekville Mill, 
in Northampton county. 



FISHING LAWS 59 

That any and every person violating tliis act shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than fifty dol- 
lars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

1909, ch. 662. 

Hoke. (See sec. 132.) 
Hyde. (See, also, sec. 154.) 

Sec. 186. Pound and Dutch Nets, Prohibited, Where; Remoyal. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person or persons to set or use any pound or 
Dutch net south of the dividing line between Dare and Hyde counties on 
th& west side of Pamlico Sound along the shores of Hyde County, more than 
two thousand yards from a line drawn from point to point along said 
shore. 

That any person violating this act shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
meanor and upon conviction shall remove said nets at once: Provided that 
any person failing to remove said nets after conviction shall be subject to a 
fine of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars. 

1915, ch. 59. 

Sec. 187. Rose Bay; Drag Nets Prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any 
person to use or take fish from the waters of Rose Bay, or any of its tribu- 
taries, in Hyde County, with drag nets, or drop nets. 

Any person violating this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined 
not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars. 

Pub. Loc, Spec. Ses. 1913, ch. 264; Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 349. 

Sec. 188. Slade's Rirer and Fortescue Creek, Drag Nets Prohibited. 

That the name of Slade's Creek, in the county of Hyde, be and tli,e same 
is hereby changed to Slade's River, and, by such name the said water course 
shall in future be designated in all official maps, records, laws and other 
official documents authorized by the State of North Carolina. 

That fishing with drag nets be and the same is hereby prohibited in said 
river and tributaries and in the waters of Fortescue's Creek, in said 
county. 

That any violation of the provisions of this chapter, relating to the 
manner of fishing, above provided for, shall be a misdemeanor and shall be 
punished by a fine not exceeding the sum of fifty dollars or imprisonment 
for not more than thirty days, in the discretion of the court. 

1909, ch. 520. 

Sec. 189. Slade's River, Mouth of, Fixed; Nets in. That the mouth of 
Slade's River in Hyde County be and the same is hereby fixed and located 
by running a straight line from Acquillas Point on Pungo River to Sandy 
Point on said Pungo River. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to set, fish, 
or use any kind of net except stake gill nets on the east of said line men- 
tioned in paragraph one of this act, in said Slade's River. 

Any one violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars 
nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisoned not more than thirty days, in the 
discretion of the court. 

1911, ch. 59. 



60 NORTH CAROLINA 

Lenoir. (See, also, sec. 135.) 

Sec. 190. Bear Creek, Hedging and Trap Fishing Prohibited. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person or persons to hedge or fish with traps 
in the Waters of Bear Creek, between the mouth of said Creek, where it 
empties into Neuse River and the Joyner millseat, in Lenoir County. 

Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than 
live dollars ($5), nor more than twenty dollars ($20), or imprisoned not 
less than five (5) nor more than ten (10) days for such offense, in the 
discretion of the Court. 

1907, ch. 791. 

New Hanover. (See, also, sees. 110, 124, 125, 155, 156, 157.) 

Sec. 191. Masonboro and Myrtle Grove Sounds, Nets and Traps Pro- 
lubited. If any person shall use any pyke nets or set down seines, or 
place any fish trap for the purpose of catching fish in the waters of Mason- 
boro and Myrtle Grove Sounds in New Hanover County, he shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and fined not more than fifty dollars, or imprisoned not 
more than twenty days. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2425. 

Sec. 192. Seines and Nets Prohibited in Atlantic Ocean, Where and 
When. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to 
fish with seines, purse, pod or pound nets, or with any kind of nets, except 
cast nets, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean in New Hanover County 
within the following limits: 

Beginning at a point on the beach on the north side of the mouth of 
Moore's Inlet and extending southwardly along the strand of the Atlantic 
Ocean to a point on the north of the mouth of Masonboro Inlet, and extend- 
ing one mile out from the shore line. 

The above shall not apply to the use of set nets between the first day of 
November and the first day of May next following. 

That any person violating this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars 
and imprisoned not more than sixty days. 

1915, ch. 104. 

Northampton. (See sec. 185.) 

Onslow. (See, also, sees. 157, 175.) 

Sec. 193. Cypress Swamp and Haws Eun, Obstnictions in. That it shall 
be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to fell any trees in or in 
any way obstruct the natural flow of the waters of Cypress Swamp and 
Haws Run in Onslow County. 

That any person, firm or corporation violating this act shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not more than fifty 
dollars ($50) br imprisoned not more than thirty (30) days. 

1907, ch. 772. 

Sec. 194. Nets Stopping Passage Prohibited, Where. That it shall be 
unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to set, place, fix, establish or 
operate any stop net that will prevent or interrupt the passage of any fish 
in the water of any creek or sound in Onslow County, North Carolina, 
between New River and the Carteret County line in said county. 



FISHING LAWS 61 

That any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this act 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be fined not more 
than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

1915, ch. 133. 

Sec. 195. Nets and Seines Set in Ocean for Only One Hour; Penalty, 
Informer; Sale of JVets. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or 
corporation to set any net or seine on the coast of Onslow County for a 
longer time than one hour at any one time. 

That any person violating the provisions of this act shall, upon convic- 
tion, be fined not less than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than 
three mouths. 

That one-half of said fine shall go to the party or parties reporting such 
offenses, and furnishing sufficient evidence to convict. 

That in the event any offender shall be unable to pay fine, that his 
boats, nets and other fishing paraphernalia shall be forfeited and sold to 
the highest bidder for cash at courthouse door after twenty days notice, 
and proceeds of said sale be applied to cost and fine and any' surplus paid 
to the defendant: Provided, however, this act shall not tend to convict any 
party who shall catch more fish than can be taken up in one hour. 

1915, ch. 184. 

Sec. 196. New Rirer; Seines and Nets in Channel. That it shall be 
unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation, or association to catch fish 
with haul seine, purse net, or drop net in the waters of New River in the 
main channel between Hatche's Rock and New River Inlet, or within one- 
half mile of said inlet in the Atlantic Ocean. 

That any person, firm, corporation, or association violating this act shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not less 
than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned 
in the discretion of the court; fifty dollars of said fine to be paid to the 
person or persons furnishing evidence sufficient to convict. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1&13, ch. 707. 

Pamlico. (See, also, sees. 129, 135, 136, 145, 154.) 

Sec. 197. Pamlico Kiver, Nets in Prohibited, When. If any person shall 
set or fish any dutch or pound nets in the waters of Pamlico County, or shall 
use any seine or drag net in the waters of said county including north side 
of Neuse River from the mouth of the river to the mouth of upper Broad 
Creek from the first day of May to the first day of January next ensuing, 
or shall at any time catch fish with a seine or drag net along the shores 
of said county on any day of the week except Monday, Wednesday and 
Friday, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not more than 
fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2452. 

Sec. 198. Dawson's Creek, Drag and Haul iets Prohibited. That it shall 
be unlawful for any person or persons to fish with drag or haul net of any 
description in the waters of Dawson's Creek, Pamlico County. 

Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and fined or imprisoned, at the discretion of the court. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1911, ch. 470. 



62 NORTH CAROLINA 

Sec. 199. Drag Nets Prohibited in Certain Streams. That it shall be 
unlawful for any person or persons to haul or use any drag net in the 
waters of Vandemere Creek and its tributaries, Smith's Creek, Chappel's 
Creek and its tributaries, Trent Creek and its tributaries and Bay River 
and its tributaries, from the mouth of Trent Creek to the head of both its 
northwest and southwest prongs, for the purpose of catching or taking fish 
from said waters. 

Tliat any person or persons violating the provision of the first section 
of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than 
five dollars nor more than ten dollars or imprisoned not less than five days 
nor more than ten days for each and every offense. 

1909, ch. 692. 

Pasquotank. (See, also, sec. 130.) 

Sec. 200. Pasquotank Rixer, Pound or Pike Nets Prohibited, Where. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to fish in 
Pasquotank River above Stinking Gut on either side of said river with 
pound or pike nets, or any other kind of net with mudge or leads: Pro- 
vided, that this act shall not be construed to prohibit any person, firm, or 
corporation fishing in said territory with gill nets. Any person, firm or 
corporation violating any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not to exceed fifty dollars 
or imprisoned not to exceed thirty days, in the discretion of the court. 

Pub. Loc. Laws 1913, ch. 752, sec. 6. 

Sec. 201. Nets in Hatley Creek. If any person shall haul or fish with a 
drag-net, or set a pound net in Big Hatley Creek, or Little Hatley Creek 
within two hundred yards of the mouth of either of said creeks, he shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not exceeding fifty dollars or 
imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. 

Rev. 1905, see. 2<,42; 1911, ch. 127. 

Pasquotank and Perquimans. (See, also, sees. 130, 149 as to Perquimans.) 

Sec. 202. Gill-Nets Allowed. That it shall be lawful for fishermen fishing 
in the Albemarle Sound lying opposite to Perquimans and Pasquotank 
counties, and its tributaries lying and being in said counties, to set gill nets 
as near as one hundred and fifty yards of any pound or dutch nets fished in 
said waters: Provided, that any net shall not be set beyond the line now 
prohibited in said waters. 

1911, ch. 138. 

Pender. (See sees. 110, 119, 155, 157.) 
Eobeson. (See sees. 131, 132.) 

Sec. 203. Luniber River; Seines, Nets, Traps, Gig-s, Dynamite. That it 
shall be unlawful for any person to fish with seine, nets, traps, gigging, or 
by muddying, striking or dynamiting, in Lumber Rover or the other rivers, 
creeks, lakes or ponds of Robeson County: Provided that this does not 
apply to persons fishing on their own premises. 

That any person violating this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and 
on conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars, nor less than ten 
dollars, one-half to go to the informant, or imprisoned not more than 



FISHING LAWS 63 

thirty days nor less than ten days, in jail, with privilege to county commis- 
sioners of Robeson County, or adjacent county, to hire out. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 529; Spec. Ses., Pub. Loc, 1913, ch. 272. 

Sec. 204. Lumber River, Nets and Traps, Closed Season ; Limit of Catch. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person to set any trap or net for the 
purpose of catching fish in Lumber River or any of its tributaries in Robeson 
County between the first day of April and the first day of September in any 
year. 

That at all times it shall be unlawful for any person to catch or take 
more than twelve of the fish known as "red breasts" and trout from Lumber 
River or any of its tributaries in Robeson County, in any one day, whether 
said fish be caught with hook and line, net, trap or in any other manner. 

That any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned, in the 
discretion of the court. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 703. 

Sampson. (See, also, sees. 120, 121, 156.) 

Sec. 20.5. Pod and Bag Nets, Traps, Dynamite, Lime and Any Obstruction 
Prohibited. That it shall be unlawful for any person to fish in any of the 
rivers, creeks, or other streams of Sampson County by means of lime, 
dynamite, pod nets, bag nets, traps or by any means or contrivance whereby 
the free passage of fish is obstructed. 

Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars or 
imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 464, sees. 2 and 3. 

Scotland. (See sec. 132.) 

TyrrelL (See, also, sees. 115, 151, 152, 153.) 

Sec. 206. Alligator Riyer and Frying Pan Creek, Nets in. If any person 
shall fish any pound net, gill net, seine or nets of any kind in Alligator 
River within one mile of the mouth of Frying Pan Creek in Tyrrell County, 
or shall set any weir or fish net of any kind or any other obstruction that 
prevents the passage of fish in said creek from its mouth to Jarmin's Point, 
at the two pines and low cypress, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2447. 

Sec. 207. Alligator Rirer and Frying Pan Creek, Nets in. If any person 
shall set any pound net or dutch net in Alligator River within one-half mile 
of the mouth of Frying Pan Creek in Tyrrell County, or in Frying Pan 
Creek within three miles of where it enters into the Alligator River, he 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined fifty dollars or im- 
prisoned thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2449. 

Washington. (See sec. 153.) 
Wayne. (See, also, sec. 134.) 

Sec. 208. Nense and Little Rivers, Gill Nets and Traps Allowed. That 
the citizens of Wayne County be and they are hereby permitted to put in 



64 NORTH CAROLINA 

fish traps and gill stick nets in Neuse and Little rivers, within the limits of 
Wayne County. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 465. 

b. Localities. 
Sec. 209. Black River and Six Runs, Obstructing Channel; Lay Days. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to fish in that part of 
Black River from the Cape Fear River to the mouth of Great Coharie, and 
in that part of Six Runs River from its mouth to where it is crossed by the 
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, with any wire trap, net or contrivance what- 
ever that will obstruct the free passage of fish in said waters, from the 
first day of March to the fifteenth day of June of each year, except from 
six o'clock p. m. to six o'clock a. m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 
nights. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons fishing as permitted 
in the foregoing section to leave, or permit being left, in the parts of the 
said streams defined in the foregoing section any wire, trap, net or contriv- 
ance whatever that will obstruct the free passage of fish, or any parts of 
any such wire trap, net or contrivance, at any time during which such 
fishing is prohibited by the foregoing section. 

Any person or persons violating the provisions of this act shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not more than fifty dollars ($50) or 
imprisoned not more than thirty (30) days. 

1907, ch. 169. 

Sec. 210. Moccasin River and Big and Little Contentnea Creeks, Obstruc- 
tions and Nets in. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to 
hedge or otherwise obstruct the free passage of water, fish, timber, rafts or 
boats, in the run of Moccasin River or Big Contentnea Creek, from Rpun- 
tree's Bridge in Wilson County to the mouth of said river or creek, or to 
make any like obstructions in the run of Little Contentnea Creek. 

That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to fish with traps of 
any description in the waters of either of the said streams, except from 
Rountree's Bridge to Barefoot's Mill: Provided, no hedge or trap shall 
obstruct more than one-third of the waters of Contentnea Creek. 

That any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this act shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not 
less than five dollars and not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not 
more than thirty days; and that one-half of the fine so imposed shall be 
paid to the person who shall report such offenses to the proper lawful 
officer, and the other half to the common school fund of the county in which 
said misdemeanor shall be committed. 

1907, ch. 615; Spec. Ses., Pub. Loc, 1913, ch. 252. , 

Streams, Lakes, Inlets, Sounds, etc. 

See, also: 

Albemarle Sound, sees. 108, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 143, 202. 

Ararat River, sec. 139. 
Bears' Inlet, sec. 109. 
Bear Skin River, sec. 156. 
Big Coharie River, sec. 156. 
Big Swamps, sec. 156. 



FISHING LAWS 65 



Black River, sees. 119, 120, 121, 139 155, 156, 209. 

Broad River, sec. 139. 

Brown's Inlet, sec. 109. 

Brunswick River, sec. 124. 

Cain River, sec. 139. 

Cape Fear River, sees. 122, 123, 124, 125, 139, 155, 156. 

Cashie River, sec. 117. 

Catawba River, sec. 139. 

Chowan River, sees. 116, 139, 143. 

Contentnea Creek, sees. 139, 210. 

Croatan Marshes, sec. 127. 

Croatan Sound, sees. 112, 127, 143. 

Currituck Sound, sees. 112, 128, 180. 

Dan River, sec. 139. 

Deep River, sec. 139. 

Eastmost River, sec. 117, 

Elk Creek, sec. 139. 

French Broad River, sec. 139. 

Goose Creek, sec. 129. 

Green River, sec. 139. 

Hatteras Inlet, sees. 108, 109, 143. 

Haw River, sec. 139. 

John's River, sec. 139. 

Lake Phelps, sec. 153. 

Little Coharie River, sec. 156. 

Little River, sees. 130, 139. 

Lumber River, sees. 131, 132, 133, 139, 203, 204. 

Meherrin River, sees. 139. 

Middle River, sec. 117. 

Mingo Creek, sec. 120. 

Moccasin River, sec. 210. 

Neuse River, sees. 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 142, 145. 

New Hope River, sec. 139. 

New Inlet, sees. 108, 109, 143. 

New River, sec. 139. 

Northeast Cape Fear River, sees. 123, 126, 139, 155, 156. 

North Fork of Catawba River, sec. 139. 

Ocracoke Inlet, sees. 108, 109, 142. 

Old Fields of Toe River, sec. 139. 

Oregon Inlet, sees. 108, 109, 143. 

Oyster Creek, sec. 129. 

Pamlico River, sees. 142, 144, 147, 148. 

Pamlico Sound, sees. 112, 127, 142, 143, 145, 146. 

Perquimans River, sec. 149. 

Pigeon River, sec. 139. 

Roanoke Marshes, sees. 108, 143. 

Roanoke River, sees. 117, 139. 

Roanoke Sound, sec. 150. 

Rocky River, sec. 139. 

Scuppernong River, sees. 151, 152, 153. 

Six Runs, sees. 156, 209. 



66 NORTH CAROLINA 

Smith's Creek, sec. 145. 
South River, sees. 139, 156. 
Stoney Fork Creek, sec. 139. 
Tar River, sees. 142, 147, 148. 
Tennessee River, sec. 139. 
Toe River, sec. 139. 
Trent River, sees. 136, 137, 138. 
Yadkin River, sec. 139. 
And see Acts by Counties. 

4. Local Ljnvs (Xou-Coinmercial Fishing). 

a. Counties. 

b. Localities. 

a. Counties. 
Anson. 

Sec. 211. Lower Creek; amends Act 1905, ch. 706. 

1907, ch. 38. 

Ashe. 

Sec. 212. Waters stocked by U. S. Government, fishing in prohibited. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 195. 

Avery. 

Sec. 213. Elk and Toe Rivers; closed season. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 526. 

Avery, Caldwell and Mitchell. 

Sec. 214. Rainbow Trout, fishing regulated. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 675; Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 752, sec. 2. 

Buncombe. 

Sec. 215. Fish protected; trout, closed season, and size; Game Warden's 
duty. 

1909, ch. 570. 

Burke. 

Sec. 216. Dynamiting fish prohibited. 
1909, ch. 895. 

Sec. 217. Written permission, prohibits fishing on lands of another with- 
out, where; dynamiting and seining, where. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 137; Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 752, sec. 1. 

Burke, Caldwell and McDowell. 

Sec. 218. Catawba River, fishways; seining and trapping forbidden. 
Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 710. 

Cabarrus. 

Sec. 219. Coddle and Big Cold Water Creeks, prevents seining in. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 361. 

Caldwell. (See sees. 214, 218.) 

Cherokee. 

Sec. 220. Shooting fish; punishment. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 608, sees. 4 and 5. 



PISHING LAWS 67 

Sec. 221. Seines and traps in Valley, Notla, and Hiwassee rivers. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2458. 

Clay. 

Sec. 222. California trout to be put back; otherwise than with hook and 
line forbidden. 

1909, ch. 374. 

Sec. 223. Dynamite for killing fish, unlawful. 

Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 623, sec. 3. 

Sec. 224, Hiwassee River, free passage of fish in Mission Dam. 

1909, ch. 112. 

Craven. 

Sec. 225. Neuse and Trent river bridges at New Bern, fishing or shooting 
from. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2456. 

Durham and Orange. 

Sec. 226. Eno River; use of seines and nets prohibited, when. 

Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 547. 

Gates. 

Sec. 227. Speight's Mill Pond; to protect lish in. 

1907, ch. 646. 

Sec. 228. Bennett's Creek Mill Pond, fishing other than with hook and 
line unlawful. 

1907, ch. 734. 

Graham. 

Sec. 229. Yellow Creek; trout, closed season. 
Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 127. 

Sec. 230. Rainbow trout, closed season, where and when. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 59. 

Harnett and Lee. 

Sec. 231. Upper Little River, seines and nets prohibited, where. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 379. 

Sec. 232. Upper Little River, dynamite prohibited. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 519. 

Haywood. 

Sec. 233. Trout in Cataloochee Creek, offering for sale; permission of land 
owner. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2480. 

Sec. 234. Cataloochee Township; fishing without consent of land owner, 
unlawful. 

1907, ch. 704. 

Sec. 235. Cecil Township, closed season; limit, number and size; wardens; 
arrest; punishment. 

1907, ch. 696. 



68 NORTH CAROLINA 

Henderson. 

Sec. 236. Fishing, except with hook and line and gig and seine, prohibited 
in Green, French Broad, Little, Mills rivers. Grassy Creek, and Mud 
Creek. 

1895, ch. 345; Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 623, sec. 2. 

Sec. 237. Obstructing streams, preventing passage of fish, prohibited. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2479. 

Hertford. 

Sec. 238. Liverman's Mill Pond, hook and line only. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 354. 

Johnston. 

Sec. 239. Hannah's and Stone's creeks; closed season. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 645. 

Sec. 240. Black Creek, fishing in, prohibited. 

1907, chs. 713 and 870; Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 493; Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 373. 

Lee. (See sec. 231.) 

Madison. 

Sec. 241. Closed season, where; dynamite. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 380. 

Martin. 

Sec. 242. Cross Roads Township, unlawful to hunt and fish on lands of 
another without written permission, 

1907, ch. 338. 

3IcDowell. (See, also, sec. 218.) 

Sec. 243. Trout, written consent of owner to fish for in certain streams; 
deleterious substances in streams forbidden. 

1891, ch. 5; 1907, ch. 544. 

Mitchell. (See, also, sec. 214.) 

Sec. 244. Dynamiting fish prohibited. 

1909, ch. 895. 

Mitchell and Yancey. 

Sec. 245. Explosives; powers game wardens. 

Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 576. 

Sec. 246. Dynamite forbidden for killing fish; game warden's power. 
Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 576. 

Orange. (See sec. 226.) 

Polk. 

Sec. 247. Seines, nets and dynamite prohibited; exception. 

1909, ch. 590; Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 549. 

Sec. 248. North Pacolet and Vaughn's Creek; hook and line only; closed 
season; permission; sale; sawdust, etc. 

1907, ch. 149. 



FISHING LAWS 69 

Bockingham. 

Sec. 249. Dynamiting fish in Haw River forbidden. 

1909, ch. 311. 

Sampson. 

Sec. 250. South River, Little Coharie, Big Coharie, and Six Runs, hook 
and line fishing always lawful. 

1907, ch. 359. 

Swain. 

Sec. 251. Tabor's Mill Creek, trout closed season for three years. 

Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 121. 

Sec. 252. Sawmill and Tabor*s Mill creeks, closed season for four years. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 355. 

Sec. 253. Fishing, hunting and baseball on Sunday, prohibited. 

Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 573. 

Sec. 254. Hazel and Forney's creeks; closed season; limit on number; 
wardens; punishment. 

1909, ch. 247. 

Sec. 255. Hazel Creek, amends Act 1905, ch. 281. 

1907, ch. 426. 

Sec. 256. Rainbow trout in Ocoa Township, size. 
Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 208. 

Transjiyania. 

Sec. 257. Seining and trapping fish prohibited. 

1909, ch. 128. 

Watauga. 

Sec. 258. Trout protected; where and when. 

1899, ch. 285; Pub. Loc. 1915, ch. 622. 

Sec. 259. Seine, trap, net, gig; trout; closed season. 

1909, ch. 108; Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 124; Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 762. 

Sec. 260. Dynamiting fish prohibited. 

1909, ch. 895. 

Yancey. (See, also, sees. 245, 246.) 

Sec. 261. Written permission; closed season, when; fishways; explosives. 
Pub. Loc. 1911, ch. 290; Pub. Loc. 1913, ch. 752, sec. 7. 

b. Localities. 
Sec. 262. Goodwin's Mill Pond, unlawful to shoot fish in. 

1909, ch. 118. 

Sec. 263. Grandfather Mountain streams; consent of owner. 

Rev. 1905, sec. 2482; 1909, ch. 84. 

Sec. 264. Hiwassee River; obstructions in. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2461. 

Sec. 265. Moccasin River and Contentnea Creek; obstructions forbidden. 

1907, ch. 615. 



70 NORTH CAROLINA 



Sec. 2G6. Nantahala River, seines and nets prohibited. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2477. 

Sec. 267. South Fork River, obstructions in. 
Rev. 1905, sec. 2473. 

Sec. 268. Trout; catching with seines; shooting; prohibited 
Rev. 1905, sec. 3418. 



\ 

Orders, Rules, Regulations, etc., of Fisheries Commission 
Board Relative to the Fishing Industry of North Carolina, 
Passed at a Meeting Held at Morehead City, June 28 to 
July 2, 1915. 



These regulations, rules, etc., are now the law governing those 
features and parts of the Fishing law to which they refer and to 
extent expressed. 

Number of sections in marginal notes, where mentioned, has ref- 
erence to State Fishing laws up to and including the Laws of 1915, 
compiled by Joseph B. Cheshire, Jr., for the Fisheries Commission 
Board. 

First. Whereas, at a meeting of the Fisheries Commission 
Board, held at Washington, N. C, on April 29, 1915, the following 
order was made: "That no nets smaller than 1^4 inches bar be- Size of nets. 
fore tarring shall be fished in the waters of North Carolina : Pro- Proviso. 
tided, that this shall not apply to nets fished exclusively for shrimp 
and menhaden : Provided further, that skim nets and cast nets Proviso, 
only shall be used for catching of shrimp in Pender, New Han- 
over, and Brunswick counties" ; 

Whereas, after due notice, meetings wei'e held at Edenton, Mau- 
teo, Morehead City, and Wilmington to hear complaints and objec- 
tions to said order : It is now ordered, that the said order of Order. 
April 29, 1915, be modified as follows : 4|^ 

1. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to Size of bar. 
use in the waters of North Carolina any seine, net, or other appli- 
ances for catching fish having a bar of less size than 1% inches 
or a mesh of less than 2% inches : Provided, that nets having a Proviso, 
bar of not less than 1% inches may be used for catching mullet 
from August 15th to November 15th in the ocean : Provided fur- Proviso. 
ther, that this shall not be construed to modify or change any exist- 
ing law prescribing a larger mesh or bar : Provided further, that Proviso, 
pound nets having not less than 1%-inch bar may be used in all 
waters of the State where pound nets are allowed by law. 

2 The use of anchor gill nets is prohibited in all the inland Anchor gill nets 

proniDitea. 

waters of the State. 



Modification of 
former order. 



Nets and seines 
prohibited. 



Menhaden. 



Shrimp. 
Proviso. 



Catching food fish 
with purse nets. 
See sec. 35 of Fish- 
ing Laws. 



Catching mullet 
between Moore's 
and Masonboro 
Inlets. 
Affects sec. 191. 

May set pound nets 
in portion of 
Carteret County in 
Pamlico Sound and 
Neuse River. 
See sec. 173. 



May set nets any 
time in portion of 
Cape Fear lliver. 
See sec. 156. 



Fishing with seine 
with power boats in 
certain waters in 
Carteret County. 
See sec. 16S. 



3. The resolution of April 29, 1915, prohibiting the use of any 
nets and seines in Albemarle Sound and its tributaries from June 
1st to January 1st, is hereby modified to read as follows : "The 
fishing of all nets and seines in Albemarle Sound and its tributa- 
ries west of a line from Caroon's Point to Powell's Point from May 
20th to September 1st is hereby prohibited." 

4. Purse nets and purse seines having a bar of not less than % 
inch may be used for catching menhaden in any waters of the 
State in which the use of purse seines and purse nets are not pro- 
hibited by law. 

5. Shrimp nets of smaller size mesh than 1%-inch bar may be 
used for catching of shrimp : Provided, that shrimp shall be taken 
with skim nets, cast nets, and trawl nets only, in the counties of 
Brunswick, New Hanover, and Pender. 

Second. • It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corpora- 
tion to fish for or catch any food fish other than mullet in any 
purse seine or purse net in any waters within the limits of Carteret 
County extending to the extreme limit of the State's jurisdiction 
in and over such waters, or to take or catch any mullets in any 
purse seine or purse net within 1,000 yards of the beach or ocean 
shore, or to take or catch any mullets within 1 mile in any direc- 
tion from Beaufort Inlet, or to buy or market any food fish caught 
in purse nets, other than mullet. 

Third. It shall be lawful to fish with set net and to catch mul- 
let with seine along the beach on the ocean side between Moore's 
Inlet and Masonboro Inlet from August 15th to November 15th. 

Fourth. It shall be lawful to fish pound nets in that portion of 
Neuse River and Pamlico Sound west of a tripod to be erected on 
the shore of Pamlico Sound at a point 3 miles west of Harbor 
Island Lighthouse to Clubfoot Creek: Provided, that no pound 
nets shall be set within three-fourths of a mile on each side of the 
mouth of either channel leading into what is known as Back Bay, 
but is designated on the chart as Cedar Island Bay: Provided, 
that said nets shall extend only 2,000 yards from the shore. 

Fifth. It shall be lawful to catch fish with seines and nets in 
the Cape Fear River in the counties of Brunswick and New Han- 
over at any time of the year except Sunday. 

Sixth. That it shall be lawful to pull any haul nets with gaso- 
line power in Core Sound except in what is known on the chart as 



Hog Island Bay, but is commonly known as Cedar Island Bay; 
the boundaries of the mouth of said bay to be a line extending 
from the mouth of Lewis's Creek an easterly course to a north 
and south line from the southwest point of Hog Island. 

Seventh. That it shall be unlawful to use a landing or sweep Size of sweep nets 

^ . ^ „ , „ , in Core Sound. 

net in Core Sound of smaller size mesh than 114-inch bar. 

Eighth. That in the measurement of any net to determine the Standard of 

measurement for 

Size mesh a standard measurement shall be determined by hang- nets. 

iug a 1 pound weight to the mesh below the mesh to be measured, 

and the distance from knot to knot shall be the size of the mesh. 

Ninth. That it shall be unlawful for any ijerson to buy, sell, Undersize fish, 

unlawful to buy, 

offer for sale, have in his possession or unnecessarily destroy any sell, have in posses- 
sion, or destroy. 

fish of less size than the length specified for the several kinds of ^®® ^®*'- ^^'*- 
fish hereinafter mentioned, towit : 

Sturgeon, Moose, or pegging awl 5 feet. 

Rockflsh 12 inches. 

Mackerel 12 inches. 

Hickory shad 12 inches. 

Grey trout 11 inches. 

Speckle trout 11 inches. 

Bluefish . 10 inches. 

Sheepshead 9 inches. 

Sea mullets or kingfish 10 inches. 

Red drum 12 inches. 

Flounders 9 inches. 

Mullet 9 inches. 

Black bass 9 inches. 

Ring perch 7 inches. 

Croakers 8 inches. 

Pompano 8 inches. 

Spots 8 inches. 

Hogfish 8 inches. 

White perch 7 inches. 

Measurements to be from the tip of the nose to the tip of the 
tail : Provided, that this shall not apply to any catch, quantities, 
or bulk of fish which does not exceed 10 per cent in number of 
such undersize fish: Provided further, that this provision shall 



not be construed to prevent catches of smaller fish with hook 
and line for sport or personal use. 
Shall not set nets Tenth. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or cor- 

within 300 yards of 

fishery, etc. poration to haul seines or nets within 300 yards of any estab- 

lished fishery ; or to have or set more than one line of stakes for 
the purpose of fishing nets thereto ; or to set such stakes within 

Kind, length of net, 159 yards of the Center of the channel of Cape Fear River ; or to 

and time for setting •' '■ ' 

in Cape Fear River. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^..^j. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ sturgeon, greater in length than 
two-thirds the width of the channel at that point where said net 
is fished ; or to catch any white shad between the 15th day of April 
and the 1st day of February following, or to fish for white shad 
or to obstruct the through passage of same in the waters of Cape 
Fear River and its tributaries, from its mouth to its source, be- 
tween the hours of 1 o'clock p. m. on Saturday until sunrise the 
following Monday during the open season for catching white shad 
in said river and its tributaries. 

Clams under u Eleventh. That it shall be unlawful to offer for sale or ship 

inches not to be 

so'd. any clams of less than li4 inches measurement from hinge to 

mouth across the center. 
Restricted territory Twelfth. No pouud net shall be set in the following territory : 

for setting pound 

nets at Hatteras adjacent to Hatteras Inlet, commencing at Barney Slough Light, 

Inlet. See sees. 109 

^^*^ ^^^ running north by west one-half west, 10,000 yards ; thence west 

by south one-half south, 3,000 yards ; thence south by east one- 
half east to Hatteras Inlet. All stands of nets set north of this 
line shall run a north-northwest course and all stands of nets 
set south of this line shall run a north-northeast course, and any 
lead of said nets may commence in 4 feet of water, extending only 
2,000 yards in Pamlico Sound, 

No two stands of Thirteenth. No two or more stands of pound nets shall be 

nets to be joined 

together. joined together with headers or nets of anj' description. 

Territory for setting Fourteenth. Pound nets may be set on a line from the black 

nets restricted in 

certain portions of buoy on Pingletou Shoal to the black buoy on Gibbs Shoal and 

Hyde County. 

from Gibbs Shoal to Gull Shoal Lighthouse, extending inshore 

2,000 yards. 

May set pound nets Fifteenth. It shall be lawful to set pound nets on a line corn- 
south side Kitty 
Hawk Bay in Aibe- mencing at the black buoy, a westerly course, from Long Point 

marie Sound. 

on the south side of Kitty Hawk Bay, running 3,000 yards a north- 



west course and 500 yards a southeast course from said buoy, 
extending 2,000 yards at riglit angles a southwest course from said 
line in Albemarle Sound. 

Sixteenth. It shall be unlawful to fish nets of any character in Restricted territory 

in certain portion 

the following territory (except such as are set from Hog Island of Dare County. 

See sec. 143. 

and Roanoke Marsh), commencing at a black buoy, south-south- 
east from Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse, running an easterly course 
to a point on the south side of Oregon Inlet, and from a line drawn 
an easterly course from the black buoy, or 1.000 yards from the 
Hog Island Marsh to the southeast point of Duck Island to the 
beach north of Oregon Inlet. It shall be unlawful to set any 
pound net closer to the No. 4 Red Buoy, marking the entrance to 
Stetson Channel, than 3.000 yards on a line running south-south- 
east to Big Island. 

Seventeenth. It shall be lawful to set gill nets south of a line May set gill nets in 

certain sections of 

running from the black buov a south-southeast course from Roan- Dare County. See 

sec. 143. 

oke Marshes Lighthouse, an easterly course on the south side of 
Oregon Inlet : Provided, they shall not be set within a radius of 2 
miles from the center of Oregon Inlet. 

Eighteenth. It shall be lawful to set pound nets from a line May set pound nets 

in certain portions 

200 yards easterly from Broad Creek Point, in Roanoke Sound, of Dare County, 

Albemarle Sound. 

thence a southerly direction to a point 1,000 yards easterly of the ^eesec. 143. 
marsh on the south side of the Cut-Through Creek ; thence a south- 
westerly direction to the Red Spar Buoy, No. 6, off Hog Island 
Marsh ; thence a westerly course with the marsh 1,000 yards ofC 
the west point of Hog Island Marsh ; thence a northwesterly 
course to the north point of Big Island. 

Nineteenth. It shall be unlawful to set any nets between Broad No nets to be set 

in certain parts of 

Creek Point and Ballast Point in Roanoke Sound during the shad Roanoke Sound 

during shad season. 

fishing season. See sec. 150. 

Twentieth. It shall be lawful to fish pound nets inside of a line May set pound nets 

in certain waters of 

commencing at Eastmas Narrows Point in Croatan Sound, run- Croatan Sound. 

See sees. 127 and 

ning 9,000 yards a north by west one-half west course to a line ^'^^■ 
one-fifth the width of the sound at Pork Point ; thence 3,900 yards 
a northwest by north one-eighth north course to a line one-fifth 
the width of the sound at Weirs Point, continuing one-fifth the 
width of Croatan Sound. 



May set pound nets Tweiity-first. It sball be lawful to set pound nets inside of a 

in certain waters of '■ 

See s'ecs. m'and '^"^ Commencing at Red Stone Point in Croatan Sound, one-fifth 
the width of the sound, from the shore, running a northwest three- 
quarters north course to the Black Spar Buoy. No. 7, a southwest- 
erly course from Croatan Lighthouse, on to the black can buoy off 
Caroon's Point, extending on the same course 2,000 yards : Pro- 
vided, no pound nets shall extend in the sound beyond this line to 
the limits above mentioned. 

May set pound nets Twenty-second. It shall be lawful to set pound nets to a line 

m certain waters ot 

See sees ^27 and extending 600 yards in Croatan Sound from Roanoke Marshes ruu- 

143 

ning a north by west one-quarter west course 9.S00 j-ards to a 
point one-fifth the width of the sound, from Fleetwood Point, 
thence a line northwest by north three-quarters north to a point 
one-fifth the width of the sound from Red Stone Point. 
Every stand of nets Twenty-third. Every stand of pound or gill nets shall have a 

to be marked. 

stake at each end of the stand with a board 2 feet long by 8 inches 
wide fastened onto the said stake, which shall be marked in black 
letters 2 inches long, the name, post-office address, and number of 
the nets of the owner thereof, and it shall be unlawful to fish 
such nets without such board so marked. 
No new nets of Tweuty-fourth. No new pound nets of smaller mesh than 1%- 

smaller bar than Ij 

and li inches to be iudi ^ar or haul nets of smaller mesh than IVt-inch bar shall be 
installed. 

bought and installed after this date (June 29, 1915), and it shall 
be unlawful to install any such nets of smaller bar than herein 
mentioned. 

RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE OYSTER 
INDUSTRY. 

May dredge oysters Twenty-fifth. It Shall be lawful for any person, duly licensed, 

north of Blurf Bay 

and Ocracoke Inlet, ^o use scoops, scrapes, or dvedges or other instrument or instru- 
ments for the pui'pose of taking or catching oysters from the pub- 
lic oyster grounds or natural oyster beds in the waters of Pamlico 
Sound north of a line running from West Bluff Bay to the center 
of Ocracoke Inlet. 
Kedafisirnd*^'"^ Twenty-sixth. It shall be lawful to use scoops, scrapes, or 
Cou'ntj^^Pungo dredges in the waters of Cedar Island Bay in Carteret County 
rh'ers.^'^ ° ^"^^ aiid in the waters of Pamlico Sound and Neuse River to a line 
from Whitakers Creek on Neuse River to Adam's Creek Beacon, 
and in the waters of Pungo River. 



Twenty-seventh. It shall be unlawful for any person to use Shall not dredge 

oysters on Gull 

scoops, scrapes, or dredges for the purpose of taking or catching Rock and Pingleton 

Point. Close season 

oysters within a line from Hog Island to Gull Shoal Lighthouse north of Long Shoal 

15 February to 

and from Gull Shoal Lighthouse to Long Point, at any time ; and October 1st. 
in the waters of Pamlico Sound north of a line running from Long 
Shoal Light to Gull Shoal Life-saving Station, from the 15th day 
of February of each year to the 1st day of October following ; and 
inside of a line from Shad Point to Pingleton Buoy and from 
Pingleton Buoy to Pingleton Point, at any time. 

Twenty-eighth. It shall be lawful to take or catch oysters with Restricted territory 

in Famlico bound. 

scoops, scrapes, or dredges south and east of a line from Bay 

Point, on the north side of Bay River, to Brant Island, and north 

and east of a line from Brant Island to Porpoise Point. 

Twenty-ninth. It shall be lawful for boats, 30 feet in length May dredge oysters 

in Swan Quarter 

over all and under, to take or catch oysters with scoops, scrapes, Narrows with boats 

30 feet in length 

or dredges in Swan Quarter Narrows. ^^'^ under. 

Thirtieth. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corpora- Close season to take 

or catch oysters 

tion to take or catch oysters from the public grounds or natural J^th April to 1st of 

October. See sees. 

oyster beds of the State from the 15th of April to the 1st of Octo- 67. 78, S5, 86, S8. 

ber, but may take or catch oysters between October 1st and April 

15th following of any year. The territory in Rules 27 and 28 

excepted. 

ED. CHAMBERS SMITH, 

W. M. WEBB, Chairman. 

Secretary. 



I 



i 



Orders, Rules, Regulations, etc., of the Fisheries Commis- 
sion Board Relative to the Fishing Industry of North 
Carolina, Passed at a Meeting of the Board Held at 
Morehead City, N. C, September 21, 1915, and February 
21, 1916. 



These Rules, Regulations, etc., are now the law of the State, 

governing the fishing industry of the State, as expressed in said 

Rules and Regulations, and are of equal force and effect with the 

provisions of the act of the General Assembly of North Carolina, 

Public Laws of 1915, chapter 84. 

First. That section 2 of Rule "First" of the Rules and Regu- Rule "First" of 

„ , - . ,. „ Board, passed 

lations of the Fisheries Commission Board, passed at meeting or june 28-juiy 2, 

Board June 28-July 2, 1915, is hereby suspended until, and shall untifocTT,''m6, 

not become operative until, October 1, 1916, but shall conform shall conform to 

to Rule 23 of said Board, passed at said time, requiring boards at ^ *^ 

each end of such nets marked as prescribed in said Rule 23. 

Second. It shall be lawful to join six nets together, for the See chap. 130, 

„ , . ,. X, • T 1 j-i. i-- A Public Laws 1911, 

purpose of temporary fishing, of the size and length mentioned gg^. I7l, Fishing 

in chapter 130, Public Laws 1911, when so joined total length of e^t'e^'^Pj''"®^®^ 

nets not to exceed 825 yards: Provided, that not less than six 

men shall be permitted to fish the nets thus joined together: 

Provided further, that this rule applies to the territory mentioned 

in and in all other respects intended to be confined to provisions 

of chapter 130, Laws of 1911. 

Third. It shall be lawful, for the purpose of landing a set net May tie two nets 
on the ocean side of the beach in Carteret County, to tie two set oHanding nettm 
nets together, at the time of landing, the last net serving as a beach. 
warp. 

Fourth. That Rule "Fourth" of the Fisheries Commission Rule Fourth of 
Board, passed at its meeting at Morehead City, June 28 to July 2, ^°fy2\ TqiI^ 
1915, be amended as follows: By striking out the words, "Pro- amended. 
vided, that said nets shall extend only 2,000 yards from the shore," 
and inserting in lieu thereof the following: -'Provided, that 
pound nets shall not be set within 250 yards of the shore from 
June 1st to January 1st, extending only 1,750 yards therefrom in 
the sound": Provided further, that the owners of said nets shall 
remove all stakes within five days after removal of nets, and shall 
give the Fisheries Commissioner five days notice of the removal 
of their stakes, that the Commissioner may, if he deems it neces- 
sary, have a representative present during the removal of said 
stakes. Said Rule "Fourth" as amended, and is now law, reads 
as follows, to wit: 

"Fourth. It shall be lawful to fish pound nets in that portion Rule Fourth as 
of Neuse River and Pamlico Sound west of a tripod to be erected -amended. 



on the shore of Pamlico Sound at a point three miles west of 
Harbor Island Lighthouse to Clubfoot Creek: Provided, that no 
pound nets shall be set within three-fourths of a mile on each 
side of the mouth of either channel leading into what is known 
as Back Bay, but is designated on the chart as Cedar Island Bay; 
Provided, that pound nets shall not be set within 250 yards of the 
shore from June 1st to January 1st, extending only 1,750 yards 
therefrom in the sound: And provided further, that the owner 
of said nets shall remove all stakes within five days after re- 
moval of nets, and shall give the Fisheries Commissioner five 
days notice of the removal of their stakes, that the Commissioner 
may, if he deems it necessary, have a representative present dur- 
ing the removal of said stakes." 
May set pound Fifth. It shall be lawful to set pound nets from January 1st to 

May i!^ east *side ^^^ ^^^ ^''°™ ^ point beginning on the east side of Wainwright 
Wainwright Chan- Channel, at the southwest point pf Hodges Reef, running a north 
nel 800 yards. . , ^, „ 

course with the contour of the reef a distance of five nautical 
miles. Said nets to begin at the reef and extend only 800 yards 
in the sound: Provided, that no net shall have less than a two- 
inch bar to be used in said limits. 
Time for fishing Sixth. The open season for fishing in Atlantic Township, Cur- 

s'iii^!'ciirrit^°ck''' rituck County, shall be from October 1st until April 1st following 
County, extended, in any year. The lines of said township, for fishing, shall be 
same described in first paragraph of section 619, Public Laws of 
1909. 
Privilege extended Seventh. It shall be lawful for any bona fide citizen of this 
any'county? to '"^ State to Cultivate and propagate the diamond-back terrapin in 
propagate dia- any county of the State, under the same rules, provisions and 

mond back terra- 

pin. restrictions mentioned and set forth in cnapter 402, Private Laws 

of 1913, and chapter 58, Public Local Laws, Special Session 1913, 

as are permitted and allowed citizens of Carteret County under 

said acts. 

Fishing within Eighth. That it Shall be unlawful for any person or persons, 

lockln^tifeCa'^e'' ^^™ °^ Corporation to fish with any kind of net, trap or fyke in 

Fear River pro- the Cape Fear River within three miles, on either side, of any lock 

hibited. . • j • 

m said river. 

Rule Ninth of Ninth. That Rule "Ninth" be amended as to size of fish, etc., so 

2,°i9i5!'amlnde'df ^^^^ ^^^ minimum size of trout shall be nine instead of eleven 

reducing size of ' inches in length and mullet eight instead of nine inches, passed 

out ten-percent at meeting September 21, 1915; and by striking out all the first 

proviso. proviso in said rule, which reads as follows: "Provided, that 

this shall not apply to any catch, quantity or bulk of fish which 

does not exceed ten per cent in number of such undersize fish," 

and by striking out the word "further" immediately after the word 

"Provided" in last provision of said Rule Ninth and otherwise 

amended by order and rule passed at meeting held February 21, 

1916, so that said rule and law shall now read as follows, to wit: 

Rule Ninth as "Ninth. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or 

amended. corporation to take, buy, sell, offer for sale, have in his or their 



possession, or unnecessarily destroy, anywhere in the State of 
North Carolina, any fish of less size than the length specified for 
the several kinds of fish hereinafter mentioned, to wit: 



Sturgeon, moose, or pegging awl 5 

Rockfish 12 

Mackerel 12 

Hickory shad 12 

Grey trout 9 

Speckled trout 11 

Blue fish 10 

Sheepshead 9 

Sea mullet or king fish 10 

Red drum 12 

Flounders 9 

Mullet 8 

Black bass 9 

Ring perch 7 

Croakers 8 

Pompano 8 

Spots 8 

Hogfish 8 

White perch 7 



feet 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nclies 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 

nches 



Measurements to be from the tip of the nose to the tip of the 
tail: Provided, that this provision shall not be construed to pre- 
vent catches of smaller fish with hook and line for sport or per- 
sonal use." 

Tenth. That it shall be lawful to take or catch clams of regu- 
lation and lawful size, from the waters of Pender, New Hanover 
and Brunswick counties from October 1st to May 1st following. 

Eleventh. It shall be lawful to catch drum in any of the inlets 
of this State, but shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corpor- 
ation to catch any drum in any of the inlets of the State with net 
having a smaller bar than four and one-half inches or mesh of 
nine inches. 

Twelfth. That Rule "Twelfth," as passed at the meeting of the 
Board, June 28 to July 2, 1915, providing no pound nets to be set 
in certain territory adjacent to Hatteras Inlet, be amended as to 
lines for restricted territory and otherwise amended, and not re- 
pealed, so that said Rule "Twelfth" shall read as follows: 

"Twelfth. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons 
to set or fish any net of any description in the following territory 
near Hatteras Inlet: At a line at or near Outside Beacon Light 
in Pamlico Sound, about three miles from the shores of Hatteras, 
running southwest three-quarters south, lay off a line 500 yards 
on each side of center of channel, and from northeast end of said 
line run a line to pass through a point 500 yards southwest one- 
half south from Hatteras Inlet Light 7,450 yards (no nets to be 



May take clams, 
lawful size, Oct. 1 
to May 1, in Pen- 
der, New Hanover, 
and Brunswick 
counties. 

May catch drum 
in inlets with 4%- 
inch har nets. 



Rule Twelfth, 
passed by Board 
July 2, 1915, 
amended as to 
lines and other- 
wise. 



set southwardly of this line and between this line and the ne.\i 
two mentioned lines), and from southwest end of said first lini 
run a line northwest seven-eights west 3,850 yards to a point 2,00ii 
yards southwest one-half south from Hatteras Inlet Light; thenct 
west by north one-quarter north 4,200 yards (no nets to be sei 
northwardly of last two lines or between last two lines and second 
above mentioned lines) ; and that all nets adjacent to the lines 
shall be set at right angles to lines mentioned above as restricted 
territory. Jump-backs not to exceed 100 yards of lead are al- 
lowed, provided they do not extend more than one-third (%) the 
distance between any two stands of nets. And it shall be unlaw- 
ful to set or fish any net within a radius of 3,500 yards fi'orfi the 
south point of beach on north side of Hatteras Inlet." 
May set stake gill Thirteenth. That it shall be lawful to set stake gill nets in 
Trent riverTab^ove Neuse River above the point where the Trent River empties into 
point where Trent the Neuse River, and shall be lawful to set stake gill nets in 

River empties into 

Neuse River. Trent River to upper Tucker Bridge over said river, subject, how- 

ever, to any and all provisions and restrictions mentioned and 
set forth in section 138 of the Fisheries Laws, being section 2455, 
Revisal of 1905. 

Unlawful to set Fourteenth. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or 

Trent river sVith- Corporation to set or fish any kind of net whatsoever in Neuse or 

in 150 yards either rpj-gjjt rivers above the point of intersection, within 150 yards of 
side ot railroad or f > .; 

county bridges. any railroad or county bridge crossing either of said rivers. 
Unlawful to take Fifteenth. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corpora- 
broke Creek™ ti*^^ to take or catch any fish of any kind, at any time, with any 
Chowan County, appliance or apparatus from the waters of Pembroke Creek, 

e.xcppt for purpose 

of propagation. Chowan County, N. C, except under the direction and supervision 

of the United States Bureau of Fisheries. Privilege is hereby 

granted the United States Bureau, or any one under its direction, 

to take any kind of fish from said creek at any time for purpose 

of propagation. 

Unlawful to take Sixteenth. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons, 

ft^i^eams^Lxcept"^^^ ^^^ °^ Corporation, to catch or kill any fish of any kind with 

with basket or seine or trap nets, gigs or snares, or by means of poison or ex- 
hook and line ni , . 

Ashe, Wilkes, plosions of any kind, or otherwise destroying any fish, except witb 
CaW^wfn'counties hook and line, in any of the waters of the natural streams, rivers 
Size of fish to be or creeks in the counties of Wilkes, Ashe, Watauga, and Caldwell. 

taken. 

And it shall be lawful to take with hook and line or any other 

appliance or apparatus whatsoever any fish of any kind from 

any of the aforesaid waters in any of said counties under the size 

of six (6) inches. 

Chairman and Seventeenth. The Fisheries Commission and the Chairman of 

suspend any^ru^*^ the Fisheries Commission Board is hereby empowered and author- 

and regulation jzed to suspend the Operation of any rule or regulation of the 

pending meeting ^ ^ ^ ^ 

of Board. Board in regard to the fishing industry for not more than thirty 

days, pending a meeting of the Board. 

Ed. Chambers Smith, 
W. M. Webb, Secretary. Chairman. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 880 391 6 



